diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openmpi/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openmpi/package.py
index f520568f737..89222270481 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openmpi/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openmpi/package.py
@@ -897,7 +897,7 @@ def die_without_fortran(self):
         # Until we can pass variants such as +fortran through virtual
         # dependencies depends_on('mpi'), require Fortran compiler to
         # avoid delayed build errors in dependents.
-        if (self.compiler.f77 is None) or (self.compiler.fc is None):
+        if (self.compiler.f77 is None) and (self.compiler.fc is None):
             raise InstallError("OpenMPI requires both C and Fortran compilers!")
 
     @when("@main")