diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/precice/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/precice/package.py
index 9a9fed034b3..ef147e1543d 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/precice/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/precice/package.py
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ def variant_bool(feature, on='ON', off='OFF'):
         # Eigen3
         if xsdk_mode:
             cmake_args.append('-DTPL_ENABLE_EIGEN3=ON')
-        cmake_args.append('-DEIGEN3_INCLUDE_DIR=%s' % spec['eigen'].prefix)
+        cmake_args.append(
+            '-DEIGEN3_INCLUDE_DIR=%s' % spec['eigen'].headers.directories[0])
 
         # LibXML2
         if xsdk_mode: