diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/boost/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/boost/package.py
index fc3b967fd1c..93362cadf69 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/boost/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/boost/package.py
@@ -324,7 +324,6 @@ def install(self, spec, prefix):
         if not spec.satisfies('@1.43.0:'):
             withLibs.remove('random')
         if '+graph' in spec and '+mpi' in spec:
-            withLibs.remove('graph')
             withLibs.append('graph_parallel')
 
         # to make Boost find the user-config.jam