diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
index 9fecc1a251e..8d84abcc20c 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
@@ -1217,7 +1217,6 @@ def variant(self):
 
     def architecture(self):
         self.expect(ID)
-        self.check_identifier()
         return self.token.value