diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gdb/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gdb/package.py
index e90f28d662b..825291feb09 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gdb/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gdb/package.py
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ class Gdb(AutotoolsPackage, GNUMirrorPackage):
     depends_on('python', when='+python')
     depends_on('xz', when='+xz')
 
+    build_directory = 'spack-build'
+
     def configure_args(self):
         args = []
         if '+python' in self.spec: