diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 4644c82..e186646 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Bug #1471938: Fix curses module build problem on Solaris 8; patch by 
+  Paul Eggert.
+
 - Bug #978833: Really close underlying socket in _socketobject.close.
 
 - Bug #1459963: urllib and urllib2 now normalize HTTP header names correctly
diff --git a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
index f74cfd5..37a6a55 100644
--- a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 	del_curterm delscreen dupwin inchnstr inchstr innstr keyok
 	mcprint mvaddchnstr mvaddchstr mvchgat mvcur mvinchnstr
 	mvinchstr mvinnstr mmvwaddchnstr mvwaddchstr mvwchgat
-	mvwgetnstr mvwinchnstr mvwinchstr mvwinnstr newterm
+	mvwinchnstr mvwinchstr mvwinnstr newterm
 	restartterm ripoffline scr_dump
 	scr_init scr_restore scr_set scrl set_curterm set_term setterm
 	tgetent tgetflag tgetnum tgetstr tgoto timeout tputs
@@ -819,14 +819,17 @@
     if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args,"ii;y,x",&y,&x))
       return NULL;
     Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
+#ifdef STRICT_SYSV_CURSES
+    rtn2 = wmove(self->win,y,x)==ERR ? ERR : wgetnstr(self->win, rtn, 1023);
+#else
     rtn2 = mvwgetnstr(self->win,y,x,rtn, 1023);
+#endif
     Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
     break;
   case 3:
     if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args,"iii;y,x,n", &y, &x, &n))
       return NULL;
 #ifdef STRICT_SYSV_CURSES
- /* Untested */
     Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
     rtn2 = wmove(self->win,y,x)==ERR ? ERR :
       wgetnstr(self->win, rtn, MIN(n, 1023));