diff --git a/lib/spack/env/cc b/lib/spack/env/cc
index 0245e065310..47a5bcf9003 100755
--- a/lib/spack/env/cc
+++ b/lib/spack/env/cc
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ spack_env_path   = get_path("SPACK_ENV_PATH")
 
 # Figure out what type of operation we're doing
 command = os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])
-cpp, cc, ccld, ld = range(4)
+cpp, cc, ccld, ld, version_check = range(5)
 if command == 'cpp':
     mode = cpp
 elif command == 'ld':
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ elif '-c' in sys.argv:
 else:
     mode = ccld
 
+if '-V' in sys.argv or '-v' in sys.argv or '--version' in sys.argv:
+    mode = version_check
+
 # Parse out the includes, libs, etc. so we can adjust them if need be.
 parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
 parser.add_argument("-I", action='append', default=[], dest='include_path')