diff --git a/templates/common/build_icon.sh b/templates/common/build_icon.sh
index 977619db55c6aa878c38e34cec5a58b9e9c602b8..bdf12fb6763ab420737871b24b2e85e449c27196 100644
--- a/templates/common/build_icon.sh
+++ b/templates/common/build_icon.sh
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ if [ ! -z "$SPACK_BUILD_ICON" ]; then
   fi
 
   spack install $SPACK_BUILD_ICON
-  spack load "icon-nwp@${ICON_VERSION}%${COMPILER}"
+  #TODO: had some problems with spack load when more than one version is available, adding --first to overcome that
+  # although in principle we should not install the model if its already installed.
+  spack load --first "icon-nwp@${ICON_VERSION}%${COMPILER}"
 else
   echo "\%icon.spack_cmd\% is not defined. If you want to compile icon with spack, please provide a spack compile instruction string in your build.yml"
 fi