diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/krb5/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/krb5/package.py
index 12ad783dbc0..d32f86991e7 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/krb5/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/krb5/package.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class Krb5(AutotoolsPackage):
     depends_on("openssl@:1", when="@:1.19")
     depends_on("openssl")
     depends_on("gettext")
+    depends_on("perl", type="build")
     depends_on("findutils", type="build")
     depends_on("pkgconfig", type="build", when="^openssl~shared")