diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/concretize.py b/lib/spack/spack/concretize.py
index e460f456002..7424b8a90dc 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/concretize.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/concretize.py
@@ -727,7 +727,9 @@ def __init__(self, compiler_spec, arch=None):
             )
 
         super(UnavailableCompilerVersionError, self).__init__(
-            err_msg, "Run 'spack compiler find' to add compilers.")
+            err_msg, "Run 'spack compiler find' to add compilers or "
+            "'spack compilers' to see which compilers are already recognized"
+            " by spack.")
 
 
 class NoValidVersionError(spack.error.SpackError):