diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lua/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lua/package.py
index 60b13628d2f..ab655862057 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lua/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lua/package.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def lua_share_dir(self):
         return os.path.join("share", self.lua_dir_name, self.__verdir())
 
     # luarocks needs unzip for some packages (e.g. lua-luaposix)
-    depends_on("unzip", type="run")
+    depends_on("unzip", type=("build", "run"))
 
     # luarocks needs a fetcher (curl/wget), unfortunately I have not found
     # how to force a choice for curl or wget, but curl seems the default.