diff --git a/lib/spack/docs/module_file_support.rst b/lib/spack/docs/module_file_support.rst
index 960d5ebdaa1..c6cbc4b22b1 100644
--- a/lib/spack/docs/module_file_support.rst
+++ b/lib/spack/docs/module_file_support.rst
@@ -213,6 +213,18 @@ location). The set ``my_custom_lmod_modules`` will install its lmod
 modules to ``/path/to/install/custom/lmod/modules`` (and still install
 its tcl modules, if any, to the default location).
 
+By default, an architecture-specific directory is added to the root
+directory. A module set may override that behavior by setting the
+``arch_folder`` config value to ``False``.
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+
+   modules:
+     default:
+       roots:
+         tcl: /path/to/install/tcl/modules
+       arch_folder: false
+
 Obviously, having multiple module sets install modules to the default
 location could be confusing to users of your modules. In the next
 section, we will discuss enabling and disabling module types (module
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/modules/common.py b/lib/spack/spack/modules/common.py
index e09b0f1b6b1..ce1b9115cd3 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/modules/common.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/modules/common.py
@@ -620,9 +620,14 @@ def filename(self):
         if self.extension:
             filename = '{0}.{1}'.format(self.use_name, self.extension)
         # Architecture sub-folder
-        arch_folder = str(self.spec.architecture)
+        arch_folder_conf = spack.config.get(
+            'modules:%s:arch_folder' % self.conf.name, True)
+        if arch_folder_conf:
+            # include an arch specific folder between root and filename
+            arch_folder = str(self.spec.architecture)
+            filename = os.path.join(arch_folder, filename)
         # Return the absolute path
-        return os.path.join(self.dirname(), arch_folder, filename)
+        return os.path.join(self.dirname(), filename)
 
 
 class BaseContext(tengine.Context):
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/modules/lmod.py b/lib/spack/spack/modules/lmod.py
index 614c063932b..924db9bc985 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/modules/lmod.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/modules/lmod.py
@@ -222,15 +222,18 @@ class LmodFileLayout(BaseFileLayout):
     @property
     def arch_dirname(self):
         """Returns the root folder for THIS architecture"""
-        arch_folder = '-'.join([
-            str(self.spec.platform),
-            str(self.spec.os),
-            str(self.spec.target.family)
-        ])
-        return os.path.join(
-            self.dirname(),  # root for lmod module files
-            arch_folder,  # architecture relative path
-        )
+        # Architecture sub-folder
+        arch_folder_conf = spack.config.get(
+            'modules:%s:arch_folder' % self.conf.name, True)
+        if arch_folder_conf:
+            # include an arch specific folder between root and filename
+            arch_folder = '-'.join([
+                str(self.spec.platform),
+                str(self.spec.os),
+                str(self.spec.target.family)
+            ])
+            return os.path.join(self.dirname(), arch_folder)
+        return self.dirname()
 
     @property
     def filename(self):
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/schema/modules.py b/lib/spack/spack/schema/modules.py
index d3619b18236..90755f55888 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/schema/modules.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/schema/modules.py
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@
         {'type': 'string'},
         {'type': 'boolean'}
     ]},
+    'arch_folder': {'type': 'boolean'},
     'prefix_inspections': {
         'type': 'object',
         'additionalProperties': False,
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/data/modules/lmod/no_arch.yaml b/lib/spack/spack/test/data/modules/lmod/no_arch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1f10bcb7927
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/data/modules/lmod/no_arch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+enable:
+  - lmod
+arch_folder: false
+lmod:
+  core_compilers:
+    - 'clang@3.3'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/data/modules/tcl/no_arch.yaml b/lib/spack/spack/test/data/modules/tcl/no_arch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f9972516546
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/data/modules/tcl/no_arch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+enable:
+  - tcl
+arch_folder: false
+tcl:
+  projections:
+    all: ''
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/modules/lmod.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/modules/lmod.py
index 861f78c7b86..954c068545d 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/modules/lmod.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/modules/lmod.py
@@ -354,3 +354,10 @@ def test_modules_relative_to_view(
             # point to the right one
             assert any(expected in line for line in content)
             assert not any(spec.prefix in line for line in content)
+
+    def test_modules_no_arch(self, factory, module_configuration):
+        module_configuration('no_arch')
+        module, spec = factory(mpileaks_spec_string)
+        path = module.layout.filename
+
+        assert str(spec.os) not in path
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/modules/tcl.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/modules/tcl.py
index 464d91c278d..93930a6a894 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/modules/tcl.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/modules/tcl.py
@@ -404,3 +404,10 @@ def test_config_backwards_compat(self, mutable_config):
 
         assert old_format == new_format
         assert old_format == settings['tcl']
+
+    def test_modules_no_arch(self, factory, module_configuration):
+        module_configuration('no_arch')
+        module, spec = factory(mpileaks_spec_string)
+        path = module.layout.filename
+
+        assert str(spec.os) not in path