diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/env.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/env.py
index 64b9a2411d0..fe40da4412f 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/env.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/env.py
@@ -103,7 +103,8 @@ def env_activate(args):
         tty.die("No such environment: '%s'" % env)
 
     if spack_env == os.environ.get('SPACK_ENV'):
-        tty.die("Environment %s is already active" % args.activate_env)
+        tty.debug("Environment %s is already active" % args.activate_env)
+        return
 
     active_env = ev.get_env(namedtuple('args', ['env'])(env),
                             'activate')