diff --git a/stacks/pinot-noir/packages_stack.yaml b/stacks/pinot-noir/packages_stack.yaml
index 56c7ab0099bf4aaafe2a8c56e1fa5b8404fcf698..8403ae0faabc82a89bd525f3226830e064349394 100644
--- a/stacks/pinot-noir/packages_stack.yaml
+++ b/stacks/pinot-noir/packages_stack.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ packages:
     require: ['+kokkos', '+mgard', '~zfp']
 
   amber:
-    prefer: ['^netcdf-c ~mpi']
+    require: ['^netcdf-c ~mpi']
 
   apr:
     # https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/SVN-4813