diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/raxml-ng/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/raxml-ng/package.py
index a0350f6fa7..e6b8934e6f 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/raxml-ng/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/raxml-ng/package.py
@@ -31,4 +31,4 @@ class RaxmlNg(CMakePackage):
     depends_on('mpi', when='+mpi')
 
     def cmake_args(self):
-        return [self.define_from_variants('USE_MPI', 'mpi')]
+        return [self.define_from_variant('USE_MPI', 'mpi')]