diff --git a/var/spack/packages/binutils/package.py b/var/spack/packages/binutils/package.py
index 0c33bf04260..cac0a0407f9 100644
--- a/var/spack/packages/binutils/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/packages/binutils/package.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ def install(self, spec, prefix):
             '--disable-dependency-tracking',
             '--enable-interwork',
             '--enable-multilib',
+            '--enable-shared',
             '--enable-64-bit-bfd',
             '--enable-targets=all']