diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lammps/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lammps/package.py
index 4d95bfa8c8..ac8b4c8977 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lammps/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lammps/package.py
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ def url_for_version(self, version):
             description='Build the liblammps in addition to the executable')
     variant('mpi', default=True,
             description='Build with mpi')
+    variant('exceptions', default=False,
+            description='Build with lammps exceptions')
 
     depends_on('mpi', when='+mpi')
     depends_on('mpi', when='+mpiio')
@@ -102,6 +104,8 @@ def cmake_args(self):
         args = [
             '-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS={0}'.format(
                 'ON' if '+lib' in spec else 'OFF'),
+            '-DLAMMPS_EXCEPTIONS={0}'.format(
+                'ON' if '+exceptions' in spec else 'OFF'),
             '-D{0}_MPI={1}'.format(
                 mpi_prefix,
                 'ON' if '+mpi' in spec else 'OFF')
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/parsplice/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/parsplice/package.py
index 55c3644f35..a3fb2abf07 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/parsplice/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/parsplice/package.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ class Parsplice(CMakePackage):
     depends_on("mpi")
     depends_on("eigen@3:")
     depends_on("lammps+lib@20170901:")
+    depends_on("lammps+lib+exceptions@20170901:", when="@1.2:")
 
     def cmake_args(self):
         options = ['-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON', '-DBoost_NO_BOOST_CMAKE=ON']