diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/cmake.py b/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/cmake.py
index f934947604..105e9d5ab8 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/cmake.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/build_systems/cmake.py
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ def _std_args(pkg):
             '-G', generator,
             define('CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX', convert_to_posix_path(pkg.prefix)),
             define('CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE', build_type),
+            define('BUILD_TESTING', pkg.run_tests),
         ]
 
         # CMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION only exists for CMake >= 3.9
@@ -361,6 +362,7 @@ def cmake_args(self):
 
             * CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX
             * CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE
+            * BUILD_TESTING
 
         which will be set automatically.