diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/bamutil/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/bamutil/package.py
index 1c1268f7f1d..89aaa0e9ac3 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/bamutil/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/bamutil/package.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ class Bamutil(MakefilePackage):
     # https://github.com/statgen/libStatGen/issues/9
     patch('libstatgen-issue-9.patch', when='@1.0.13:')
 
+    parallel = False
+
     @property
     def install_targets(self):
         return ['install', 'INSTALLDIR={0}'.format(self.prefix.bin)]