diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lmdb/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lmdb/package.py
index 5d4eb8f05b9..6a5bb9d02af 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lmdb/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lmdb/package.py
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ class Lmdb(MakefilePackage):
 
     build_directory = 'libraries/liblmdb'
 
+    @property
+    def build_targets(self):
+        return ['CC={0}'.format(spack_cc)]
+
     @property
     def install_targets(self):
         return ['prefix={0}'.format(self.prefix), 'install']