diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/solver/concretize.lp b/lib/spack/spack/solver/concretize.lp
index 60165338c6..4d8a202ce3 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/solver/concretize.lp
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/solver/concretize.lp
@@ -1432,11 +1432,11 @@ opt_criterion(73, "deprecated versions used").
 % 1. Version weight
 % 2. Number of variants with a non default value, if not set
 % for the root package.
-opt_criterion(70, "version weight").
+opt_criterion(70, "version badness (roots)").
 #minimize{ 0@270: #true }.
 #minimize{ 0@70: #true }.
 #minimize {
-    Weight@70+Priority
+    Weight@70+Priority,PackageNode
     : attr("root", PackageNode),
       version_weight(PackageNode, Weight),
       build_priority(PackageNode, Priority)
@@ -1526,13 +1526,14 @@ opt_criterion(30, "non-preferred OS's").
 }.
 
 % Choose more recent versions for nodes
-opt_criterion(25, "version badness").
+opt_criterion(25, "version badness (non roots)").
 #minimize{ 0@225: #true }.
 #minimize{ 0@25: #true }.
 #minimize{
     Weight@25+Priority,node(X, Package)
     : version_weight(node(X, Package), Weight),
       build_priority(node(X, Package), Priority),
+      not attr("root", node(X, Package)),
       not runtime(Package)
 }.
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/concretize.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/concretize.py
index bfa774e3f4..797c865a4f 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/concretize.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/concretize.py
@@ -1914,11 +1914,11 @@ def test_version_weight_and_provenance(self):
             libc_offset = 1 if spack.solver.asp.using_libc_compatibility() else 0
             criteria = [
                 (num_specs - 1 - libc_offset, None, "number of packages to build (vs. reuse)"),
-                (2, 0, "version badness"),
+                (2, 0, "version badness (non roots)"),
             ]
 
             for criterion in criteria:
-                assert criterion in result.criteria, result_spec
+                assert criterion in result.criteria, criterion
             assert result_spec.satisfies("^b@1.0")
 
     @pytest.mark.only_clingo("Use case not supported by the original concretizer")
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/env.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/env.py
index 54ac9a3732..d8bcc0797e 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/env.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/env.py
@@ -813,3 +813,33 @@ def test_deconcretize_then_concretize_does_not_error(mutable_mock_env_path, mock
     assert len(e.concrete_roots()) == 3
     all_root_hashes = set(x.dag_hash() for x in e.concrete_roots())
     assert len(all_root_hashes) == 2
+
+
+@pytest.mark.regression("44216")
+@pytest.mark.only_clingo()
+def test_root_version_weights_for_old_versions(mutable_mock_env_path, mock_packages):
+    """Tests that, when we select two old versions of root specs that have the same version
+    optimization penalty, both are considered.
+    """
+    mutable_mock_env_path.mkdir()
+    spack_yaml = mutable_mock_env_path / ev.manifest_name
+    spack_yaml.write_text(
+        """spack:
+      specs:
+      # allow any version, but the most recent
+      - bowtie@:1.3
+      # allows only the third most recent, so penalty is 2
+      - gcc@1
+      concretizer:
+        unify: true
+    """
+    )
+    e = ev.Environment(mutable_mock_env_path)
+    with e:
+        e.concretize()
+
+    bowtie = [x for x in e.concrete_roots() if x.name == "bowtie"][0]
+    gcc = [x for x in e.concrete_roots() if x.name == "gcc"][0]
+
+    assert bowtie.satisfies("@=1.3.0")
+    assert gcc.satisfies("@=1.0")