diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/assimp/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/assimp/package.py
index a0f950a9788..cfa3f2a0c3f 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/assimp/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/assimp/package.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ class Assimp(CMakePackage):
     variant('shared',  default=True,
             description='Enables the build of shared libraries')
 
+    depends_on('pkgconfig', type='build')
     depends_on('zlib')
     depends_on('boost')
 
@@ -39,6 +40,9 @@ def patch(self):
 
     def cmake_args(self):
         args = [
+            '-DASSIMP_HUNTER_ENABLED=OFF',
+            '-DASSIMP_BUILD_ZLIB=OFF',
+            '-DASSIMP_BUILD_MINIZIP=OFF',
             '-DASSIMP_BUILD_TESTS=OFF',
             self.define_from_variant('BUILD_SHARED_LIBS', 'shared'),
         ]