--- a/curses/configure.ac
+++ b/curses/configure.ac
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@
 CPPFLAGS="$ORIG_CPPFLAGS"
 LIBS="$ORIG_LIBS"
 
+# Determine whether the detected ncurses splits off libtinfo
+
+AC_SEARCH_LIBS([stdscr], [$CURSES_LIB_BASE tinfow tinfo],
+  [CURSES_LIB_BASE="$CURSES_LIB_BASE `expr $ac_res : '-l\(.*\)'`"],
+  AC_MSG_ERROR(could not find a library providing stdscr))
 
 # Perform substitutions