diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/solver/asp.py b/lib/spack/spack/solver/asp.py
index 7d27178fbc6..4ff4f402a3d 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/solver/asp.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/solver/asp.py
@@ -2391,6 +2391,7 @@ class SpecBuilder:
                 r"^.*_propagate$",
                 r"^.*_satisfies$",
                 r"^.*_set$",
+                r"^node_compiler$",
                 r"^package_hash$",
                 r"^root$",
                 r"^virtual_node$",