diff --git a/travis/build_env.sh b/travis/build_env.sh
index d47536fec0..106c65728c 100755
--- a/travis/build_env.sh
+++ b/travis/build_env.sh
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ if [[ "$os" == "Linux" ]]; then
 	fi
     fi
     # check for mpif90 command and exit if not present
-    if [[ -z "${BUILD_MPICH}" ]]; then
+    if [[ "$MPI_IMPL" != "build_mpich" ]]; then
     if [[ ! $(command -v mpif90) ]]; then echo "mpif90 not present"; exit 1; fi
     echo "mpif90 -show output is " `mpif90 -show` || true
     echo "which mpif90 output is " `which mpif90` ||  true