diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-gpaw/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-gpaw/package.py
index 04137f3986c197b93dea4be94a77f99c793b6e55..bc26e1bf1043530a5ffe352cdcb34d8ca7c0a5e7 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-gpaw/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-gpaw/package.py
@@ -99,3 +99,5 @@ def patch(self):
             if '+scalapack' in spec:
                 f.write("scalapack = True\n")
                 f.write("define_macros += {0}\n".format(scalapack_macros))
+            if '+fftw' in spec:
+                f.write("fftw = True\n")