--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ dnl if test "$has_curses" = "false" ; then
 dnl  AC_MSG_ERROR([Fatal error: couldn't find ncurses/curses.])
 dnl fi
 
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES([NCURSES], [ncurses],[CURSES_LIB=${NCURSES_LIBS}],[
 MP_WITH_CURSES
 if test "x$CURSES_LIB" = "x" ; then
   AC_MSG_ERROR([Fatal error: couldn't find ncurses/curses.])
-fi
+fi])
 AC_SUBST(CURSES_LIB)
 
 AC_OUTPUT(Makefile contrib/Makefile doc/Makefile src/Makefile m4/Makefile cdargs.spec)