diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2aaec84..e3f5b96 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1485,6 +1485,8 @@
 
 # checks for header files
 AC_HEADER_STDC
+ac_save_cppflags="$CPPFLAGS"
+CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -I/usr/include/ncursesw"
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS(asm/types.h conio.h curses.h direct.h dlfcn.h errno.h \
 fcntl.h grp.h \
 ieeefp.h io.h langinfo.h libintl.h ncurses.h process.h pthread.h \
@@ -1498,6 +1500,7 @@
 sys/times.h sys/types.h sys/uio.h sys/un.h sys/utsname.h sys/wait.h pty.h \
 libutil.h sys/resource.h netpacket/packet.h sysexits.h bluetooth.h \
 bluetooth/bluetooth.h linux/tipc.h spawn.h util.h)
+CPPFLAGS=$ac_save_cppflags
 AC_HEADER_DIRENT
 AC_HEADER_MAJOR
 
@@ -4205,6 +4208,8 @@
   [Define if you have struct stat.st_mtimensec])
 fi
 
+ac_save_cppflags="$CPPFLAGS"
+CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -I/usr/include/ncursesw"
 # On HP/UX 11.0, mvwdelch is a block with a return statement
 AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether mvwdelch is an expression)
 AC_CACHE_VAL(ac_cv_mvwdelch_is_expression,
@@ -4259,6 +4264,8 @@
    AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)],
   [AC_MSG_RESULT(no)]
 )
+# last curses configure check
+CPPFLAGS=$ac_save_cppflags
 
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([checking for device files])