diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py
index 7f2bce119e..72df69d18a 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ def find(parser, args):
                 format = "    %-{}s%s".format(width)
 
                 for abbrv, spec in zip(abbreviated, specs):
-                    print format % (abbrv, spec.package.prefix)
+                    print format % (abbrv, spec.prefix)
 
             elif args.full_specs:
                 for spec in specs:
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/directory_layout.py b/lib/spack/spack/directory_layout.py
index 816c945707..9b31aad5fe 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/directory_layout.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/directory_layout.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import shutil
 from contextlib import closing
 
+import llnl.util.tty as tty
 from llnl.util.filesystem import join_path, mkdirp
 
 import spack
@@ -163,6 +164,11 @@ def read_spec(self, path):
         if not spack.db.exists(spec.name):
             spec._normal = True
             spec._concrete = True
+        else:
+            spec.normalize()
+            if not spec.concrete:
+                tty.warn("Spec read from installed package is not concrete:",
+                         path, spec)
 
         return spec
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/packages.py b/lib/spack/spack/packages.py
index 744ccae2d1..ba997bf269 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/packages.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/packages.py
@@ -115,7 +115,13 @@ def installed_package_specs(self):
         """Read installed package names straight from the install directory
            layout.
         """
-        return spack.install_layout.all_specs()
+        # Get specs from the directory layout but ensure that they're
+        # all normalized properly.
+        installed = []
+        for spec in spack.install_layout.all_specs():
+            spec.normalize()
+            installed.append(spec)
+        return installed
 
 
     @memoized
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/install.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/install.py
index a92bd92289..8047ab92e3 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/install.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/install.py
@@ -25,15 +25,18 @@
 import os
 import unittest
 import shutil
+import tempfile
 from contextlib import closing
 
 from llnl.util.filesystem import *
 
 import spack
 from spack.stage import Stage
+from spack.directory_layout import SpecHashDirectoryLayout
 from spack.util.executable import which
 from spack.test.mock_packages_test import *
 
+
 dir_name = 'trivial-1.0'
 archive_name = 'trivial-1.0.tar.gz'
 install_test_package = 'trivial_install_test_package'
@@ -66,9 +69,16 @@ def setUp(self):
             tar = which('tar')
             tar('-czf', archive_name, dir_name)
 
-        # We use a fake pacakge, so skip the checksum.
+        # We use a fake package, so skip the checksum.
         spack.do_checksum = False
 
+        # Use a fake install directory to avoid conflicts bt/w
+        # installed pkgs and mock packages.
+        self.tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+        self.orig_layout = spack.install_layout
+        spack.install_layout = SpecHashDirectoryLayout(self.tmpdir)
+
+
     def tearDown(self):
         super(InstallTest, self).tearDown()
 
@@ -78,6 +88,10 @@ def tearDown(self):
         # Turn checksumming back on
         spack.do_checksum = True
 
+        # restore spack's layout.
+        spack.install_layout = self.orig_layout
+        shutil.rmtree(self.tmpdir, ignore_errors=True)
+
 
     def test_install_and_uninstall(self):
         # Get a basic concrete spec for the trivial install package.