diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/wps/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/wps/package.py
index 14e1e55823..b9a672296e 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/wps/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/wps/package.py
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ class Wps(Package):
     depends_on("wrf")
     depends_on("netcdf-c")
     depends_on("netcdf-fortran")
+    depends_on("mpi")
     # build script use csh
     depends_on("tcsh", type=("build"))