diff --git a/etc/spack/defaults/windows/config.yaml b/etc/spack/defaults/windows/config.yaml
index 367bf831cf..53116391cc 100644
--- a/etc/spack/defaults/windows/config.yaml
+++ b/etc/spack/defaults/windows/config.yaml
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ config:
   concretizer: clingo
   build_stage::
     - '$spack/.staging'
+  stage_name: '{name}-{version}-{hash:7}'
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/package_base.py b/lib/spack/spack/package_base.py
index 470a41c460..98bf4d9c23 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/package_base.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/package_base.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
 from spack.filesystem_view import YamlFilesystemView
 from spack.install_test import TestFailure, TestSuite
 from spack.installer import InstallError, PackageInstaller
-from spack.stage import ResourceStage, Stage, StageComposite, stage_prefix
+from spack.stage import ResourceStage, Stage, StageComposite, compute_stage_name
 from spack.util.executable import ProcessError, which
 from spack.util.package_hash import package_hash
 from spack.util.prefix import Prefix
@@ -1022,8 +1022,7 @@ def _make_root_stage(self, fetcher):
         )
         # Construct a path where the stage should build..
         s = self.spec
-        stage_name = "{0}{1}-{2}-{3}".format(stage_prefix, s.name, s.version, s.dag_hash())
-
+        stage_name = compute_stage_name(s)
         stage = Stage(
             fetcher,
             mirror_paths=mirror_paths,
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/schema/config.py b/lib/spack/spack/schema/config.py
index abe207cac0..106e45ce7a 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/schema/config.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/schema/config.py
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@
             "build_stage": {
                 "oneOf": [{"type": "string"}, {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}}]
             },
+            "stage_name": {"type": "string"},
             "test_stage": {"type": "string"},
             "extensions": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
             "template_dirs": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/stage.py b/lib/spack/spack/stage.py
index f6ed3c1ef4..97e05f365e 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/stage.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/stage.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 import spack.fetch_strategy as fs
 import spack.mirror
 import spack.paths
+import spack.spec
 import spack.util.lock
 import spack.util.path as sup
 import spack.util.pattern as pattern
@@ -49,6 +50,13 @@
 stage_prefix = "spack-stage-"
 
 
+def compute_stage_name(spec):
+    """Determine stage name given a spec"""
+    default_stage_structure = "spack-stage-{name}-{version}-{hash}"
+    stage_name_structure = spack.config.get("config:stage_name", default=default_stage_structure)
+    return spec.format(format_string=stage_name_structure)
+
+
 def create_stage_root(path: str) -> None:
     """Create the stage root directory and ensure appropriate access perms."""
     assert os.path.isabs(path) and len(path.strip()) > 1
@@ -150,7 +158,10 @@ def _resolve_paths(candidates):
 
         # Ensure the path is unique per user.
         can_path = sup.canonicalize_path(path)
-        if user not in can_path:
+        # When multiple users share a stage root, we can avoid conflicts between
+        # them by adding a per-user subdirectory.
+        # Avoid doing this on Windows to keep stage absolute path as short as possible.
+        if user not in can_path and not sys.platform == "win32":
             can_path = os.path.join(can_path, user)
 
         paths.append(can_path)
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/stage.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/stage.py
index 1cc1f20472..f790a66d0e 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/stage.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/stage.py
@@ -765,8 +765,11 @@ def test_resolve_paths(self):
 
         # resolved path without user appends user
         paths = [os.path.join(os.path.sep, "a", "b", "c")]
+        can_paths = [paths[0]]
         user = getpass.getuser()
-        can_paths = [os.path.join(paths[0], user)]
+
+        if sys.platform != "win32":
+            can_paths = [os.path.join(paths[0], user)]
         assert spack.stage._resolve_paths(paths) == can_paths
 
         # resolved path with node including user does not append user
@@ -789,7 +792,7 @@ def test_resolve_paths(self):
             res_paths[1] = can_tempdir
             res_paths[2] = os.path.join(can_tempdir, user)
             res_paths[3] = os.path.join(can_tempdir, "stage", user)
-        else:
+        elif sys.platform != "win32":
             res_paths[0] = os.path.join(res_paths[0], user)
 
         assert spack.stage._resolve_paths(paths) == res_paths