diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/fmt/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/fmt/package.py
index d69f0618d7a..004658cad75 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/fmt/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/fmt/package.py
@@ -118,12 +118,7 @@ def cmake_args(self):
             args.append("-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON")
 
         if spec.satisfies("+pic"):
-            args.extend(
-                [
-                    "-DCMAKE_C_FLAGS={0}".format(self.compiler.cc_pic_flag),
-                    "-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS={0}".format(self.compiler.cxx_pic_flag),
-                ]
-            )
+            args.append(self.define("CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE", True))
 
         args.append("-DCMAKE_CXX_STANDARD={0}".format(spec.variants["cxxstd"].value))
         # Require standard at configure time to guarantee the