diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ecf3f0f..f9c8850 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ if(H5BENCH_E3SM)
     ExternalProject_Add(h5bench_e3sm
         SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/e3sm
         CONFIGURE_COMMAND autoreconf -i COMMAND ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/e3sm/configure --prefix=${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR} --with-hdf5=${HDF5_HOME}
-        BUILD_COMMAND make
+        BUILD_COMMAND unset MAKEFLAGS && make
         INSTALL_COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy src/e3sm_io ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/h5bench_e3sm 
         BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
         LOG_CONFIGURE 1