diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-matplotlib/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-matplotlib/package.py
index 5a945a485fb..dc7b843691b 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-matplotlib/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-matplotlib/package.py
@@ -189,6 +189,8 @@ def configure(self):
                 setup.write('[libs]\n')
                 setup.write('system_freetype = True\n')
                 setup.write('system_qhull = True\n')
+                if self.spec.satisfies('%clang'):
+                    setup.write('enable_lto = False\n')
 
     @run_after('build')
     @on_package_attributes(run_tests=True)