diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gromacs/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gromacs/package.py
index af5f6730672..7744bb157e9 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gromacs/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gromacs/package.py
@@ -738,7 +738,7 @@ def cmake_args(self):
             ):
                 with open(".".join([os.environ["SPACK_CXX"], "cfg"]), "r") as f:
                     options.append("-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS={}".format(f.read()))
-            elif self.spec.satisfies("^gcc"):
+            elif self.spec["cxx"].name == "gcc":
                 options.append("-DGMX_GPLUSPLUS_PATH=%s/g++" % self.spec["gcc"].prefix.bin)
 
         if self.spec.satisfies("+double"):