diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/quantum-espresso/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/quantum-espresso/package.py
index 35454ae3ef33eed768ce488c442e41199d7e33e0..2fe01f864f8ba4532c0eb37cd458c9fe0a77cf59 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/quantum-espresso/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/quantum-espresso/package.py
@@ -307,7 +307,13 @@ def install(self, spec, prefix):
             options.append('BLAS_LIBS={0}'.format(lapack_blas.ld_flags))
 
         if '+scalapack' in spec:
-            scalapack_option = 'intel' if '^mkl' in spec else 'yes'
+            if '^mkl' in spec:
+                if '^openmpi' in spec:
+                    scalapack_option = 'yes'
+                else:  # mpich, intel-mpi
+                    scalapack_option = 'intel'
+            else:
+                scalapack_option = 'yes'
             options.append('--with-scalapack={0}'.format(scalapack_option))
 
         if '+elpa' in spec: