diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libflame/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libflame/package.py
index e22fd04a1d..65a307156d 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libflame/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libflame/package.py
@@ -127,3 +127,5 @@ class Libflame(LibflameBase):
 
     provides('flame@5.2', when='@5.2.0')
     provides('flame@5.1', when='@5.1.0')
+
+    depends_on('python', type='build')