diff --git a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
index dfa1012..a56a67c 100644
--- a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@
     return NULL;
   }
 
-  return PyCursesCheckERR(wbkgd(self->win, bkgd | A_NORMAL), "bkgd");
+  return PyCursesCheckERR(wbkgd(self->win, bkgd | attr), "bkgd");
 }
 
 static PyObject *