diff --git a/stacks/pinot-noir/packages_stack.yaml b/stacks/pinot-noir/packages_stack.yaml
index 37649b848fe409921f3f2b680d2eec17acbbe889..56c7ab0099bf4aaafe2a8c56e1fa5b8404fcf698 100644
--- a/stacks/pinot-noir/packages_stack.yaml
+++ b/stacks/pinot-noir/packages_stack.yaml
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ packages:
   adios2:
     require: ['+kokkos', '+mgard', '~zfp']
 
+  amber:
+    prefer: ['^netcdf-c ~mpi']
+
   apr:
     # https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/SVN-4813
     require: ['@1.6.2']