diff --git a/easybuild/tools/modules.py b/easybuild/tools/modules.py
index fc21a564b9..7318be4f4f 100644
--- a/easybuild/tools/modules.py
+++ b/easybuild/tools/modules.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 * Jens Timmerman (Ghent University)
 * David Brown (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
 """
+import glob
 import os
 import re
 import shlex
@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@
 from easybuild.tools.module_naming_scheme.mns import DEVEL_MODULE_SUFFIX
 from easybuild.tools.py2vs3 import subprocess_popen_text
 from easybuild.tools.run import run_cmd
+from easybuild.tools.systemtools import get_shared_lib_ext
 from easybuild.tools.utilities import get_subclasses, nub
 
 # software root/version environment variable name prefixes
@@ -1671,6 +1673,7 @@ def get_software_libdir(name, only_one=True, fs=None):
 
     Returns the library subdirectory, relative to software root.
     It fails if multiple library subdirs are found, unless only_one is False which yields a list of all library subdirs.
+    If only_one is True and fs is None, select the one subdirectory with shared or static libraries, if possible.
 
     :param name: name of the software package
     :param only_one: indicates whether only one lib path is expected to be found
@@ -1703,6 +1706,16 @@ def get_software_libdir(name, only_one=True, fs=None):
             if len(res) == 1:
                 res = res[0]
             else:
+                if fs is None and len(res) == 2:
+                    # if both lib and lib64 were found, check if only one (exactly) has libraries;
+                    # this is needed for software with library archives in lib64 but other files/directories in lib
+                    lib_glob = ['*.%s' % ext for ext in ['a', get_shared_lib_ext()]]
+                    has_libs = [any(glob.glob(os.path.join(root, subdir, f)) for f in lib_glob) for subdir in res]
+                    if has_libs[0] and not has_libs[1]:
+                        return res[0]
+                    elif has_libs[1] and not has_libs[0]:
+                        return res[1]
+
                 raise EasyBuildError("Multiple library subdirectories found for %s in %s: %s",
                                      name, root, ', '.join(res))
         return res
diff --git a/test/framework/modules.py b/test/framework/modules.py
index 82d03f6440..195bf0339c 100644
--- a/test/framework/modules.py
+++ b/test/framework/modules.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 from easybuild.tools.modules import curr_module_paths, get_software_libdir, get_software_root, get_software_version
 from easybuild.tools.modules import invalidate_module_caches_for, modules_tool, reset_module_caches
 from easybuild.tools.run import run_cmd
+from easybuild.tools.systemtools import get_shared_lib_ext
 
 
 # number of modules included for testing purposes
@@ -674,10 +675,23 @@ def test_get_software_root_version_libdir(self):
             os.environ.pop('EBROOT%s' % env_var_name)
             os.environ.pop('EBVERSION%s' % env_var_name)
 
-        # check expected result of get_software_libdir with multiple lib subdirs
+        # if only 'lib' has a library archive, use it
         root = os.path.join(tmpdir, name)
         mkdir(os.path.join(root, 'lib64'))
         os.environ['EBROOT%s' % env_var_name] = root
+        write_file(os.path.join(root, 'lib', 'libfoo.a'), 'foo')
+        self.assertEqual(get_software_libdir(name), 'lib')
+
+        remove_file(os.path.join(root, 'lib', 'libfoo.a'))
+
+        # also check vice versa with *shared* library in lib64
+        shlib_ext = get_shared_lib_ext()
+        write_file(os.path.join(root, 'lib64', 'libfoo.' + shlib_ext), 'foo')
+        self.assertEqual(get_software_libdir(name), 'lib64')
+
+        remove_file(os.path.join(root, 'lib64', 'libfoo.' + shlib_ext))
+
+        # check expected result of get_software_libdir with multiple lib subdirs
         self.assertErrorRegex(EasyBuildError, "Multiple library subdirectories found.*", get_software_libdir, name)
         self.assertEqual(get_software_libdir(name, only_one=False), ['lib', 'lib64'])