diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/uriparser/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/uriparser/package.py
index aaa7143b72..4171d257c9 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/uriparser/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/uriparser/package.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class Uriparser(CMakePackage):
     variant('docs', default=False, description='Build API documentation')
 
     depends_on('cmake@3.3:', type='build')
-    depends_on('googletest@1.8.1:', type='link')
+    depends_on('googletest@1.8.1', type='link')
     depends_on('doxygen', when='+docs', type='build')
     depends_on('graphviz', when='+docs', type='build')