diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/modules/common.py b/lib/spack/spack/modules/common.py
index 6feed2938ca..86abaae7c35 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/modules/common.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/modules/common.py
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ def configure_options(self):
             try:
                 configure_args = getattr(pkg, attr)()
                 return ' '.join(configure_args)
-            except (AttributeError, IOError, KeyError):
+            except (AttributeError, IOError, KeyError, NameError):
                 # The method doesn't exist in the current spec,
                 # or it's not usable
                 pass