diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/architectures/__init__.py b/lib/spack/spack/architectures/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/architectures/cray.py b/lib/spack/spack/architectures/cray.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e6d6d849227
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/architectures/cray.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import os
+
+from spack.architecture import Architecture
+
+class Cray(Architecture):
+    priority    = 20
+    front_end   = None
+    back_end    = None
+    default     = None
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        super(Cray, self).__init__('cray')
+
+    @classmethod
+    def detect(self):
+        return os.path.exists('/opt/cray/craype')
+