diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/__init__.py b/lib/spack/spack/__init__.py
index caa09eb6e0..0f23f61614 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/__init__.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 lib_path       = join_path(prefix, "lib", "spack")
 build_env_path = join_path(lib_path, "env")
 module_path    = join_path(lib_path, "spack")
+arch_path      = join_path(module_path, 'architectures')
 compilers_path = join_path(module_path, "compilers")
 test_path      = join_path(module_path, "test")
 hooks_path     = join_path(module_path, "hooks")