diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/seacas/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/seacas/package.py
index 3927a194dd8..7bcdc217366 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/seacas/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/seacas/package.py
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ def cmake_args(self):
             [define("TPL_ENABLE_Netcdf", True), define("NetCDF_ROOT", spec["netcdf-c"].prefix)]
         )
 
-        if "+parmetis" in spec:
+        if spec.satisfies("+metis+mpi"):
             options.extend(
                 [
                     define("TPL_ENABLE_METIS", True),