diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 3770d7c..3fe8281 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2928,7 +2928,7 @@ if test "$curses" != "no" ; then
     curses_inc_list="$($pkg_config --cflags ncurses 2>/dev/null):"
     curses_lib_list="$($pkg_config --libs ncurses 2>/dev/null):-lpdcurses"
   else
-    curses_inc_list="$($pkg_config --cflags ncursesw 2>/dev/null):-I/usr/include/ncursesw:"
+    curses_inc_list="-DNCURSES_WIDECHAR=1 $($pkg_config --cflags ncursesw 2>/dev/null):-I/usr/include/ncursesw:"
     curses_lib_list="$($pkg_config --libs ncursesw 2>/dev/null):-lncursesw:-lcursesw"
   fi
   curses_found=no
