diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/netlib-scalapack/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/netlib-scalapack/package.py
index e58450ca7b..9e9f6fd1c6 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/netlib-scalapack/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/netlib-scalapack/package.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class NetlibScalapack(CMakePackage):
     depends_on('cmake', when='@2.0.0:', type='build')
 
     @property
-    def scalapack_libs(self):
+    def libs(self):
         # Note that the default will be to search
         # for 'libnetlib-scalapack.<suffix>'
         shared = True if '+shared' in self.spec else False