--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 dnl Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.
 
 dnl require a recent autoconf
@@ -276,21 +277,22 @@
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------
 
 have_ncurses=no
-AC_CHECK_HEADERS([ncurses.h ncurses/ncurses.h],
+m4_ifdef([PKG_CHECK_MODULES],
   [
-    AC_CHECK_LIB([ncurses], [curs_set],
+    PKG_CHECK_MODULES([ncurses], [ncurses],
       [
-        NCURSES_LIBS="-lncurses"
-        have_ncurses=yes
-        AC_DEFINE([HAVE_NCURSES], [1], [Set to 1 if we have ncurses])
-      ]
+       have_ncurses=yes
+       NCURSES_LIBS="$ncurses_LIBS"
+       CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $ncurses_CFLAGS -DHAVE_NCURSES_H=1"
+       AC_DEFINE([HAVE_NCURSES], [1], [Set to 1 if we have ncurses])
+      ],
+      []
     )
   ]
 )
 
 AC_SUBST([NCURSES_LIBS])
 
-
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------
 dnl Check whether libcheck ('Check') is available
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------