diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/vtk/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/vtk/package.py
index f33bdce640a..49de4e28b39 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/vtk/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/vtk/package.py
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ def cmake_args(self):
 
         cmake_args.append('-DVTK_RENDERING_BACKEND:STRING=' + opengl_ver)
 
-        if spec.satisfies('@:8.1.0'):
+        if spec.satisfies('@:8.1.0') and '+osmesa' not in spec:
             cmake_args.append('-DVTK_USE_SYSTEM_GLEW:BOOL=ON')
 
         if '+osmesa' in spec: