diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/elpa/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/elpa/package.py
index 30061eb9eff..2f107bb6642 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/elpa/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/elpa/package.py
@@ -132,16 +132,7 @@ def configure_args(self):
             options.append("--enable-generic")
 
         if self.compiler.name == "gcc":
-            gcc_options = []
-            gfortran_options = ["-ffree-line-length-none"]
-
-            space_separator = " "
-            options.extend(
-                [
-                    "CFLAGS=" + space_separator.join(gcc_options),
-                    "FCFLAGS=" + space_separator.join(gfortran_options),
-                ]
-            )
+            options.extend(["CFLAGS=-O3", "FCFLAGS=-O3 -ffree-line-length-none"])
 
         if "%aocc" in spec:
             options.extend(["FCFLAGS=-O3", "CFLAGS=-O3"])