diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/mxnet/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/mxnet/package.py
index 6f42d78f50..5cc9977ef3 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/mxnet/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/mxnet/package.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from spack import *
 
 
-class Mxnet(MakefilePackage):
+class Mxnet(MakefilePackage, CudaPackage):
     """MXNet is a deep learning framework
     designed for both efficiency and flexibility."""
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class Mxnet(MakefilePackage):
     version('1.6.0', sha256='01eb06069c90f33469c7354946261b0a94824bbaf819fd5d5a7318e8ee596def')
     version('1.3.0', sha256='c00d6fbb2947144ce36c835308e603f002c1eb90a9f4c5a62f4d398154eed4d2')
 
-    variant('cuda', default=False, description='Enable CUDA support')
+    variant('cuda', default=True, description='Enable CUDA support')
     variant('opencv', default=True, description='Enable OpenCV support')
     variant('openmp', default=False, description='Enable OpenMP support')
     variant('profiler', default=False, description='Enable Profiler (for verification and debug only).')
@@ -111,6 +111,11 @@ def build(self, spec, prefix):
             args.extend(['USE_CUDA_PATH=%s' % spec['cuda'].prefix,
                          'CUDNN_PATH=%s' % spec['cudnn'].prefix,
                          'CUB_INCLUDE=%s' % spec['cub'].prefix.include])
+            # By default, all cuda architectures are built. Restrict only
+            # if a specific list of architectures is specified in cuda_arch.
+            if 'cuda_arch=none' not in spec:
+                cuda_flags = self.cuda_flags(self.spec.variants['cuda_arch'].value)
+                args.append('CUDA_ARCH={0}'.format(' '.join(cuda_flags)))
 
         make(*args)