diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qt/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qt/package.py
index 447af5f1af8..dfe83888e59 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qt/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qt/package.py
@@ -226,8 +226,14 @@ def common_config_args(self):
 
     @when('@3')
     def configure(self):
-        # A user reported that this was necessary to link Qt3 on ubuntu
-        os.environ['LD_LIBRARY_PATH'] += os.pathsep + os.getcwd() + '/lib'
+        # A user reported that this was necessary to link Qt3 on ubuntu.
+        # However, if LD_LIBRARY_PATH is not set the qt build fails, check
+        # and set LD_LIBRARY_PATH if not set, update if it is set.
+        if os.environ.get('LD_LIBRARY_PATH'):
+            os.environ['LD_LIBRARY_PATH'] += os.pathsep + os.getcwd() + '/lib'
+        else:
+            os.environ['LD_LIBRARY_PATH'] = os.pathsep + os.getcwd() + '/lib'
+
         configure('-prefix', self.prefix,
                   '-v',
                   '-thread',