diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/tar/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/tar/package.py
index 8dd0c190a46..d7358cc350f 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/tar/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/tar/package.py
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: (Apache-2.0 OR MIT)
 
+import re
+
 from spack import *