diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/installer.py b/lib/spack/spack/installer.py
index 6e772fbb662b104a0efc108eb04a99bcbd91c611..9b340b951d3061ff0392850114b350bbea8a401b 100755
--- a/lib/spack/spack/installer.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/installer.py
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ def _try_install_from_binary_cache(pkg, explicit):
     """
     pkg_id = package_id(pkg)
     tty.debug('Searching for binary cache of {0}'.format(pkg_id))
-    specs = binary_distribution.get_specs()
+    specs = binary_distribution.get_spec(pkg.spec, force=False)
     binary_spec = spack.spec.Spec.from_dict(pkg.spec.to_dict())
     binary_spec._mark_concrete()
     if binary_spec not in specs: