diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/modules/lmod.py b/lib/spack/spack/modules/lmod.py
index 76fcc05eeab..f869ab9f0b8 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/modules/lmod.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/modules/lmod.py
@@ -97,14 +97,16 @@ class LmodConfiguration(BaseConfiguration):
 
     default_projections = {"all": "{name}/{version}"}
 
+    compiler: Optional[spack.spec.Spec]
+
     def __init__(self, spec: spack.spec.Spec, module_set_name: str, explicit: bool) -> None:
         super().__init__(spec, module_set_name, explicit)
 
         # FIXME (compiler as nodes): make this a bit more robust
         candidates = collections.defaultdict(list)
         for node in spec.traverse(deptype=("link", "run")):
-            candidates["c"].extend(node.dependencies(virtuals="c"))
-            candidates["cxx"].extend(node.dependencies(virtuals="c"))
+            candidates["c"].extend(node.dependencies(virtuals=("c",)))
+            candidates["cxx"].extend(node.dependencies(virtuals=("c",)))
 
         # FIXME (compiler as nodes): decide what to do when we have more than one C compiler
         if candidates["c"] and len(set(candidates["c"])) == 1:
@@ -224,7 +226,7 @@ def provides(self):
         # All the other tokens in the hierarchy must be virtual dependencies
         for x in self.hierarchy_tokens:
             if self.spec.package.provides(x):
-                provides[x] = self.spec[x]
+                provides[x] = self.spec
         return provides
 
     @property
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
index 185a555c36e..3f3087c1b48 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
@@ -3776,16 +3776,10 @@ def __getitem__(self, name: str):
             self.edges_to_dependencies(depflag=dt.BUILD | dt.TEST),
         )
 
-        # Consider runtime dependencies and direct build/test deps before transitive dependencies,
-        # and prefer matches closest to the root.
+        # Consider runtime dependencies and direct build/test deps only
         try:
             child: Spec = next(
-                e.spec
-                for e in itertools.chain(
-                    (e for e in order() if e.spec.name == name or name in e.virtuals),
-                    # for historical reasons
-                    (e for e in order() if e.spec.concrete and e.spec.package.provides(name)),
-                )
+                e.spec for e in order() if e.spec.name == name or name in e.virtuals
             )
         except StopIteration:
             raise KeyError(f"No spec with name {name} in {self}")