diff --git a/lib/spack/external/ctest_log_parser.py b/lib/spack/external/ctest_log_parser.py
index 021575102c0..56e0f57aa1d 100644
--- a/lib/spack/external/ctest_log_parser.py
+++ b/lib/spack/external/ctest_log_parser.py
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ def parse(self, stream, context=6, jobs=None):
             context (int): lines of context to extract around each log event
 
         Returns:
-            (tuple): two lists containig ``BuildError`` and
+            (tuple): two lists containing ``BuildError`` and
                 ``BuildWarning`` objects.
         """
         if isinstance(stream, string_types):