diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nvhpc/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nvhpc/package.py
index cd52b8a63462ab..7579afd87346f8 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nvhpc/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nvhpc/package.py
@@ -355,6 +355,9 @@ class Nvhpc(Package):
     )
     variant("lapack", default=True, description="Enable LAPACK")
     variant("mpi", default=False, description="Enable MPI")
+    variant(
+        "default_cuda", default="default", description="Default CUDA version, for example 11.8"
+    )
 
     provides("blas", when="+blas")
     provides("lapack", when="+lapack")
@@ -373,6 +376,8 @@ def setup_build_environment(self, env):
         env.set("NVHPC_SILENT", "true")
         env.set("NVHPC_ACCEPT_EULA", "accept")
         env.set("NVHPC_INSTALL_DIR", self.prefix)
+        if self.spec.variants["default_cuda"].value != "default":
+            env.set("NVHPC_DEFAULT_CUDA", self.spec.variants["default_cuda"].value)
 
         if self.spec.variants["install_type"].value == "network":
             local_dir = join_path(self._version_prefix(), "share_objects")