diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
index 06767d6c7dd..985236bf6db 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
@@ -1786,10 +1786,12 @@ def from_node_dict(node):
         name = next(iter(node))
         node = node[name]
 
-        spec = Spec(name, full_hash=node.get('full_hash', None))
+        spec = Spec()
+        spec.name = name
         spec.namespace = node.get('namespace', None)
         spec._hash = node.get('hash', None)
         spec._build_hash = node.get('build_hash', None)
+        spec._full_hash = node.get('full_hash', None)
 
         if 'version' in node or 'versions' in node:
             spec.versions = vn.VersionList.from_dict(node)