diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/compiler.py b/lib/spack/spack/compiler.py
index 976699702b..cf903c129c 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/compiler.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/compiler.py
@@ -37,8 +37,12 @@ def _get_compiler_version_output(compiler_path, version_arg, ignore_errors=()):
         version_arg (str): the argument used to extract version information
     """
     compiler = spack.util.executable.Executable(compiler_path)
-    output = compiler(
-        version_arg, output=str, error=str, ignore_errors=ignore_errors)
+    if version_arg:
+        output = compiler(
+            version_arg, output=str, error=str, ignore_errors=ignore_errors)
+    else:
+        output = compiler(
+            output=str, error=str, ignore_errors=ignore_errors)
     return output
 
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/compilers/msvc.py b/lib/spack/spack/compilers/msvc.py
index ac5da84705..a613d02d36 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/compilers/msvc.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/compilers/msvc.py
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: (Apache-2.0 OR MIT)
 
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
 from typing import List  # novm
+
 from spack.compiler import Compiler
 
 
@@ -26,6 +30,22 @@ class Msvc(Compiler):
                   'f77': '',
                   'fc': ''}
 
+    #: Compiler argument that produces version information
+    version_argument = ''
+
+    #: Regex used to extract version from compiler's output
+    version_regex = r'([1-9][0-9]*\.[0-9]*\.[0-9]*)'
+
+    # Initialize, deferring to base class but then adding the vcvarsallfile
+    # file based on compiler executable path.
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(Msvc, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.vcvarsallfile = os.path.abspath(
+            os.path.join(self.cc, '../../../../../../..'))
+        self.vcvarsallfile = os.path.join(
+            self.vcvarsallfile, 'Auxiliary', 'Build', 'vcvarsall.bat')
+
     @property
     def verbose_flag(self):
         return ""
@@ -33,3 +53,30 @@ def verbose_flag(self):
     @property
     def pic_flag(self):
         return ""
+
+    def setup_custom_environment(self, pkg, env):
+        """Set environment variables for MSVC using the Microsoft-provided
+        script."""
+        if sys.version_info[:2] > (2, 6):
+            # Capture output from batch script and DOS environment dump
+            out = subprocess.check_output(  # novermin
+                'cmd /u /c "{0}" {1} && set'.format(self.vcvarsallfile, 'amd64'),
+                stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+            if sys.version_info[0] >= 3:
+                out = out.decode('utf-16le', errors='replace')
+        else:
+            print("Cannot pull msvc compiler information in Python 2.6 or below")
+
+        # Process in to nice Python dictionary
+        vc_env = {  # novermin
+            key.lower(): value
+            for key, _, value in
+            (line.partition('=') for line in out.splitlines())
+            if key and value
+        }
+
+        # Request setting environment variables
+        if 'path' in vc_env:
+            env.set_path('PATH', vc_env['path'].split(';'))
+        env.set_path('INCLUDE', vc_env.get('include', '').split(';'))
+        env.set_path('LIB', vc_env.get('lib', '').split(';'))
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/operating_systems/windows_os.py b/lib/spack/spack/operating_systems/windows_os.py
index c4f8fa7f84..a9132c7bce 100755
--- a/lib/spack/spack/operating_systems/windows_os.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/operating_systems/windows_os.py
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: (Apache-2.0 OR MIT)
 
+import sys
+import os
+import subprocess
+import glob
 from spack.architecture import OperatingSystem
 from spack.version import Version
 
@@ -22,6 +26,35 @@ class WindowsOs(OperatingSystem):
     using the major version operating system number, e.g. 10.
     """
 
+    # Find MSVC directories using vswhere
+    compSearchPaths = []
+    root = os.environ.get('ProgramFiles(x86)') or os.environ.get('ProgramFiles')
+    if root:
+        try:
+            extra_args = {}
+            if sys.version_info[:3] >= (3, 6, 0):
+                extra_args = {'encoding': 'mbcs', 'errors': 'strict'}
+            paths = subprocess.check_output([
+                os.path.join(root, "Microsoft Visual Studio", "Installer",
+                             "vswhere.exe"),
+                "-prerelease",
+                "-requires", "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Tools.x86.x64",
+                "-property", "installationPath",
+                "-products", "*",
+            ], **extra_args).strip()
+            if (3, 0) <= sys.version_info[:2] <= (3, 5):
+                paths = paths.decode()
+            msvcPaths = paths.split('\n')
+            msvcPaths = [os.path.join(path, "VC", "Tools", "MSVC")
+                         for path in msvcPaths]
+            for p in msvcPaths:
+                compSearchPaths.extend(
+                    glob.glob(os.path.join(p, '*', 'bin', 'Hostx64', 'x64')))
+        except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+            pass
+    if compSearchPaths:
+        compiler_search_paths = compSearchPaths
+
     def __init__(self):
         super(WindowsOs, self).__init__('Windows10', '10')