--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 AC_HEADER_STDC
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([arpa/inet.h netdb.h netinet/in.h stdlib.h string.h sys/socket.h sys/sockio.h])
 
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES(ncurses,ncurses,[LIBS="$LIBS $ncurses_LIBS"],)
+
 # with definitions
 AC_ARG_WITH([ncurses],
 	AC_HELP_STRING([--without-ncurses], [don't use ncurses, default is YES when available]),