diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/license.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/license.py
index 5dd42bcbb0..7ae5f1c72b 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/license.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/license.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import os
 import re
+from collections import defaultdict
 
 import llnl.util.tty as tty
 
@@ -89,50 +90,103 @@ def list_files(args):
         print(os.path.join(spack.paths.spack_root, relpath))
 
 
+# Error codes for license verification. All values are chosen such that
+# bool(value) evaluates to True
+OLD_LICENSE, SPDX_MISMATCH, GENERAL_MISMATCH = range(1, 4)
+
+
+class LicenseError(object):
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.error_counts = defaultdict(int)
+
+    def add_error(self, error):
+        self.error_counts[error] += 1
+
+    def has_errors(self):
+        return sum(self.error_counts.values()) > 0
+
+    def error_messages(self):
+        total = sum(self.error_counts.values())
+        missing = self.error_counts[GENERAL_MISMATCH]
+        spdx_mismatch = self.error_counts[SPDX_MISMATCH]
+        old_license = self.error_counts[OLD_LICENSE]
+        return (
+            '%d improperly licensed files' % (total),
+            'files with wrong SPDX-License-Identifier:   %d' % spdx_mismatch,
+            'files with old license header:              %d' % old_license,
+            'files not containing expected license:      %d' % missing)
+
+
+def _check_license(lines, path):
+    license_lines = [
+        r'Copyright 2013-(?:201[789]|202\d) Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC and other',  # noqa: E501
+        r'Spack Project Developers\. See the top-level COPYRIGHT file for details.',  # noqa: E501
+        r'SPDX-License-Identifier: \(Apache-2\.0 OR MIT\)'
+    ]
+
+    strict_date = r'Copyright 2013-2019'
+
+    found = []
+
+    for line in lines:
+        line = re.sub(r'^[\s#\.]*', '', line)
+        line = line.rstrip()
+        for i, license_line in enumerate(license_lines):
+            if re.match(license_line, line):
+                # The first line of the license contains the copyright date.
+                # We allow it to be out of date but print a warning if it is
+                # out of date.
+                if i == 0:
+                    if not re.search(strict_date, line):
+                        tty.debug('{0}: copyright date mismatch'.format(path))
+                found.append(i)
+
+    if len(found) == len(license_lines) and found == list(sorted(found)):
+        return
+
+    def old_license(line, path):
+        if re.search('This program is free software', line):
+            print('{0}: has old LGPL license header'.format(path))
+            return OLD_LICENSE
+
+    # If the SPDX identifier is present, then there is a mismatch (since it
+    # did not match the above regex)
+    def wrong_spdx_identifier(line, path):
+        m = re.search(r'SPDX-License-Identifier: ([^\n]*)', line)
+        if m and m.group(1) != apache2_mit_spdx:
+            print('{0}: SPDX license identifier mismatch'
+                  '(expecting {1}, found {2})'
+                  .format(path, apache2_mit_spdx, m.group(1)))
+            return SPDX_MISMATCH
+
+    checks = [old_license, wrong_spdx_identifier]
+
+    for line in lines:
+        for check in checks:
+            error = check(line, path)
+            if error:
+                return error
+
+    print('{0}: the license does not match the expected format'.format(path))
+    return GENERAL_MISMATCH
+
+
 def verify(args):
     """verify that files in spack have the right license header"""
-    errors = 0
-    missing = 0
-    old_license = 0
+
+    license_errors = LicenseError()
 
     for relpath in _licensed_files(args.root):
         path = os.path.join(args.root, relpath)
         with open(path) as f:
-            lines = [line for line in f]
+            lines = [line for line in f][:license_lines]
 
-        if not any(re.match(regex, relpath) for regex in lgpl_exceptions):
-            if any(re.match(r'^# This program is free software', line)
-                   for line in lines):
-                print('%s: has old LGPL license header' % path)
-                old_license += 1
-                continue
+        error = _check_license(lines, path)
+        if error:
+            license_errors.add_error(error)
 
-        # how we'll find licenses in files
-        spdx_expr = r'SPDX-License-Identifier: ([^\n]*)'
-
-        # check first <license_lines> lines for required header
-        first_n_lines = ''.join(lines[:license_lines])
-        match = re.search(spdx_expr, first_n_lines)
-
-        if not match:
-            print('%s: no license header' % path)
-            missing += 1
-            continue
-
-        correct = apache2_mit_spdx
-        actual = match.group(1)
-        if actual != correct:
-            print("%s: labeled as '%s', but should be '%s'"
-                  % (path, actual, correct))
-            errors += 1
-            continue
-
-    if any([errors, missing, old_license]):
-        tty.die(
-            '%d improperly licensed files' % (errors + missing + old_license),
-            'files with no SPDX-License-Identifier:      %d' % missing,
-            'files with wrong SPDX-License-Identifier:   %d' % errors,
-            'files with old license header:              %d' % old_license)
+    if license_errors.has_errors():
+        tty.die(*license_errors.error_messages())
     else:
         tty.msg('No license issues found.')
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/license.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/license.py
index fe02cb18a5..630b93f68b 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/license.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/license.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def test_verify(tmpdir):
     assert str(old_lgpl_header) in out
     assert str(correct_header) not in out
     assert '3 improperly licensed files' in out
-    assert re.search(r'files with no SPDX-License-Identifier:\s*1', out)
+    assert re.search(r'files not containing expected license:\s*1', out)
     assert re.search(r'files with wrong SPDX-License-Identifier:\s*1', out)
     assert re.search(r'files with old license header:\s*1', out)