diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nlopt/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nlopt/package.py
index 3beb7d9966..5b8dac7c6d 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nlopt/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nlopt/package.py
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ def cmake_args(self):
         if '-shared' in spec:
             args.append('-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS:Bool=OFF')
 
+        # On is default
+        if '-octave' in spec:
+            args.append('-DNLOPT_OCTAVE:Bool=OFF')
+
         if '+cxx' in spec:
             args.append('-DNLOPT_CXX:BOOL=ON')