diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/clone.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/clone.py
index f8b3f899ee111d729f044c16278a4c96b1141574..c523f26eb646bad98e37d9833df23a77cdf8f187 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/clone.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/clone.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def setup_parser(subparser):
         help="name of the remote to clone from", default='origin')
     subparser.add_argument(
         'prefix',
-        help="names of prefix where we should install spack")
+        help="name of prefix where we should install spack")
 
 
 def get_origin_info(remote):