diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/ci/common.py b/lib/spack/spack/ci/common.py
index 43481679c66..b348ee9b8bf 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/ci/common.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/ci/common.py
@@ -616,7 +616,7 @@ def generate_ir(self):
             # Reindex script
             {
                 "reindex-job": {
-                    "script:": ["spack buildcache update-index --keys {index_target_mirror}"]
+                    "script:": ["spack -d buildcache update-index --keys {index_target_mirror}"]
                 }
             },
             # Cleanup script