diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/binutils/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/binutils/package.py
index 30a069fa709..bd3b64394c2 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/binutils/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/binutils/package.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def setup_build_environment(self, env):
         if self.spec.satisfies('%cce'):
             env.append_flags('LDFLAGS', '-Wl,-z,muldefs')
 
-        if '+nls' in spec:
+        if '+nls' in self.spec:
             env.append_flags('LDFLAGS', '-lintl')
 
     def configure_args(self):