diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/dealii/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/dealii/package.py
index 753c9be1fb..55cd7cbd00 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/dealii/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/dealii/package.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ class Dealii(CMakePackage, CudaPackage):
     variant('hdf5',     default=True,
             description='Compile with HDF5 (only with MPI)')
     variant('metis',    default=True,  description='Compile with Metis')
+    variant('muparser', default=True,  description='Compile with muParser')
     variant('nanoflann', default=True, description='Compile with Nanoflann')
     variant('netcdf',   default=True,
             description='Compile with Netcdf (only with MPI)')
@@ -103,7 +104,6 @@ class Dealii(CMakePackage, CudaPackage):
     # bzip2 is not needed since 9.0
     depends_on('bzip2', when='@:8.99')
     depends_on('lapack')
-    depends_on('muparser')
     depends_on('suite-sparse')
     depends_on('tbb')
     depends_on('zlib')
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ class Dealii(CMakePackage, CudaPackage):
     # but we should not need it
     depends_on('metis@5:+int64+real64',   when='+metis+int64')
     depends_on('metis@5:~int64+real64',   when='+metis~int64')
+    depends_on('muparser', when='+muparser')
     depends_on('nanoflann',        when='@9.0:+nanoflann')
     depends_on('netcdf+mpi',       when='+netcdf+mpi')
     depends_on('netcdf-cxx',       when='+netcdf+mpi')
@@ -201,7 +202,6 @@ def cmake_args(self):
             '-DLAPACK_INCLUDE_DIRS=%s;%s' % (
                 spec['lapack'].prefix.include, spec['blas'].prefix.include),
             '-DLAPACK_LIBRARIES=%s' % lapack_blas.joined(';'),
-            '-DMUPARSER_DIR=%s' % spec['muparser'].prefix,
             '-DUMFPACK_DIR=%s' % spec['suite-sparse'].prefix,
             '-DTBB_DIR=%s' % spec['tbb'].prefix,
             '-DZLIB_DIR=%s' % spec['zlib'].prefix,
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ def cmake_args(self):
         # variables:
         for library in (
                 'gsl', 'hdf5', 'p4est', 'petsc', 'slepc', 'trilinos', 'metis',
-                'sundials', 'nanoflann', 'assimp', 'gmsh'):
+                'sundials', 'nanoflann', 'assimp', 'gmsh', 'muparser'):
             if ('+' + library) in spec:
                 options.extend([
                     '-D%s_DIR=%s' % (library.upper(), spec[library].prefix),
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/muparser/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/muparser/package.py
index 81ad5c3a82..fe16e5617e 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/muparser/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/muparser/package.py
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ class Muparser(Package):
     homepage = "http://muparser.beltoforion.de/"
     url      = "https://github.com/beltoforion/muparser/archive/v2.2.5.tar.gz"
 
+    version('2.2.6.1', '410d29b4c58d1cdc2fc9ed1c1c7f67fe')
+    # 2.2.6 presents itself as 2.2.5, don't add it to Spack
+    # version('2.2.6', 'f197b2815ca0422b2091788a78f2dc8a')
     version('2.2.5', '02dae671aa5ad955fdcbcd3fee313fb7')
 
     # Replace std::auto_ptr by std::unique_ptr
@@ -18,10 +21,30 @@ class Muparser(Package):
     patch('auto_ptr.patch',
           when='@2.2.5')
 
+    depends_on('cmake@3.1.0:', when='@2.2.6:', type='build')
+
+    # Cmake build since 2.2.6
+    @when('@2.2.6:')
+    def install(self, spec, prefix):
+        cmake_args = [
+            '-DENABLE_SAMPLES=OFF',
+            '-DENABLE_OPENMP=OFF',
+            '-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON'
+        ]
+
+        cmake_args.extend(std_cmake_args)
+
+        with working_dir('spack-build', create=True):
+            cmake('..', *cmake_args)
+            make()
+            make('install')
+
+    @when('@2.2.5')
     def install(self, spec, prefix):
         options = ['--disable-debug',
+                   '--disable-samples',
                    '--disable-dependency-tracking',
-                   'CXXFLAGS=-std=c++11',
+                   'CXXFLAGS={0}'.format(self.compiler.cxx11_flag),
                    '--prefix=%s' % prefix]
 
         configure(*options)