diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/environment.py b/lib/spack/spack/environment.py
index 647352a10e7..b649d112dcd 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/environment.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/environment.py
@@ -500,7 +500,7 @@ def from_dict(base_path, d):
 
     @property
     def _current_root(self):
-        if not os.path.exists(self.root):
+        if not os.path.islink(self.root):
             return None
 
         root = os.readlink(self.root)