diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/cmake.py b/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/cmake.py
index 026cf7903a2..edc9751c828 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/cmake.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/cmake.py
@@ -145,6 +145,11 @@ def _std_args(pkg):
         args.append('-DCMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH:BOOL=FALSE')
         rpaths = ':'.join(spack.build_environment.get_rpaths(pkg))
         args.append('-DCMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH:STRING={0}'.format(rpaths))
+        # CMake's find_package() looks in CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH first, help CMake
+        # to find immediate link dependencies in right places:
+        deps = [d.prefix for d in
+                pkg.spec.dependencies(deptype=('build', 'link'))]
+        args.append('-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH:STRING={0}'.format(';'.join(deps)))
         return args
 
     @property