diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openblas/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openblas/package.py
index 44cdb674cd..b7024265eb 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openblas/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openblas/package.py
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ def make_defs(self):
         if '+ilp64' in self.spec:
             make_defs += ['INTERFACE64=1']
 
-        if 'x86' in spack.architecture.sys_type():
+        if 'x86' in self.spec.architecture.target.lower():
             if '~avx2' in self.spec:
                 make_defs += ['NO_AVX2=1']
             if '~avx512' in self.spec: