diff --git a/easybuild/framework/easyconfig/tweak.py b/easybuild/framework/easyconfig/tweak.py
index df3d39f343..60ed4e2c22 100644
--- a/easybuild/framework/easyconfig/tweak.py
+++ b/easybuild/framework/easyconfig/tweak.py
@@ -909,8 +909,11 @@ def map_common_versionsuffixes(software_name, original_toolchain, toolchain_mapp
                     if original_suffix in versionsuffix_mappings:
                         if mapped_suffix != versionsuffix_mappings[original_suffix]:
                             raise EasyBuildError("No unique versionsuffix mapping for %s in %s toolchain "
-                                                 "hierarchy to %s toolchain hierarchy", original_suffix,
-                                                 original_toolchain, toolchain_mapping[original_toolchain['name']])
+                                                 "hierarchy to %s toolchain hierarchy (mapped suffix was %s but "
+                                                 "versionsuffix mappings were %s)",
+                                                 original_suffix, original_toolchain,
+                                                 toolchain_mapping[original_toolchain['name']], mapped_suffix,
+                                                 versionsuffix_mappings)
                     else:
                         versionsuffix_mappings[original_suffix] = mapped_suffix
 
@@ -953,8 +956,9 @@ def map_easyconfig_to_target_tc_hierarchy(ec_spec, toolchain_mapping, targetdir=
     parsed_ec = process_easyconfig(ec_spec, validate=False)[0]['ec']
 
     versonsuffix_mapping = {}
-
-    if update_dep_versions:
+    # We only need to map versionsuffixes if we are updating dependency versions and if there are
+    # versionsuffixes being used in dependencies
+    if update_dep_versions and list_deps_versionsuffixes(ec_spec):
         # We may need to update the versionsuffix if it is like, for example, `-Python-2.7.8`
         versonsuffix_mapping = map_common_versionsuffixes('Python', parsed_ec['toolchain'], toolchain_mapping)
 
@@ -1061,6 +1065,31 @@ def map_easyconfig_to_target_tc_hierarchy(ec_spec, toolchain_mapping, targetdir=
     return tweaked_spec
 
 
+def list_deps_versionsuffixes(ec_spec):
+    """
+    Take an easyconfig spec, parse it, extracts the list of version suffixes used in its dependencies
+
+    :param ec_spec: location of original easyconfig file
+
+    :return: The list of versionsuffixes used by the dependencies of this recipe
+    """
+    # Fully parse the original easyconfig
+    parsed_ec = process_easyconfig(ec_spec, validate=False)[0]['ec']
+
+    versionsuffix_list = []
+    for key in DEPENDENCY_PARAMETERS:
+        val = parsed_ec[key]
+
+        if key in parsed_ec.iterate_options:
+            val = flatten(val)
+
+        for dep in val:
+            if dep['versionsuffix']:
+                versionsuffix_list += [dep['versionsuffix']]
+
+    return list(set(versionsuffix_list))
+
+
 def find_potential_version_mappings(dep, toolchain_mapping, versionsuffix_mapping=None, highest_versions_only=True):
     """
     Find potential version mapping for a dependency in a new hierarchy
diff --git a/test/framework/tweak.py b/test/framework/tweak.py
index e0660cc96b..16cd6ee31e 100644
--- a/test/framework/tweak.py
+++ b/test/framework/tweak.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 from easybuild.framework.easyconfig.tweak import get_matching_easyconfig_candidates, map_toolchain_hierarchies
 from easybuild.framework.easyconfig.tweak import find_potential_version_mappings
 from easybuild.framework.easyconfig.tweak import map_easyconfig_to_target_tc_hierarchy
+from easybuild.framework.easyconfig.tweak import list_deps_versionsuffixes
 from easybuild.tools.build_log import EasyBuildError
 from easybuild.tools.config import module_classes
 from easybuild.tools.filetools import change_dir, write_file
@@ -482,6 +483,24 @@ def test_map_easyconfig_to_target_tc_hierarchy(self):
                 hit_extension += 1
         self.assertEqual(hit_extension, 1, "Should only have updated one extension")
 
+    def test_list_deps_versionsuffixes(self):
+        """Test listing of dependencies' version suffixes"""
+        test_easyconfigs = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), 'easyconfigs', 'test_ecs')
+        build_options = {
+            'robot_path': [test_easyconfigs],
+            'silent': True,
+            'valid_module_classes': module_classes(),
+        }
+        init_config(build_options=build_options)
+        get_toolchain_hierarchy.clear()
+
+        ec_spec = os.path.join(test_easyconfigs, 'g', 'golf', 'golf-2018a.eb')
+        self.assertEqual(list_deps_versionsuffixes(ec_spec), ['-serial'])
+        ec_spec = os.path.join(test_easyconfigs, 't', 'toy', 'toy-0.0-deps.eb')
+        self.assertEqual(list_deps_versionsuffixes(ec_spec), [])
+        ec_spec = os.path.join(test_easyconfigs, 'g', 'gzip', 'gzip-1.4-GCC-4.6.3.eb')
+        self.assertEqual(list_deps_versionsuffixes(ec_spec), ['-deps'])
+
 def suite():
     """ return all the tests in this file """
     return TestLoaderFiltered().loadTestsFromTestCase(TweakTest, sys.argv[1:])