--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -35,8 +35,11 @@
 AC_STRUCT_TM
 AC_STRUCT_TM_GMTOFF
 
-AC_CHECK_LIB(curses, initscr)
-AC_CHECK_HEADERS(curses.h)
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES([ncurses],[ncurses],[
+  LIBS="$LIBS $ncurses_LIBS"
+  AC_DEFINE([HAVE_CURSES_H])
+  AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LIBCURSES])],
+  [AC_MSG_ERROR([ncurses not found])])
 
 AC_OUTPUT(Makefile)