diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hdf5/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hdf5/package.py
index e46f432be5..74fc006fe9 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hdf5/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hdf5/package.py
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ def check_install(self, spec):
 """
             expected = """\
 HDF5 version {version} {version}
-""".format(version=str(spec.version))
+""".format(version=str(spec.version.up_to(3)))
             with open("check.c", 'w') as f:
                 f.write(source)
             if '+mpi' in spec: