diff --git a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/curses/default.nix b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/curses/default.nix
index 4fd75e7aac53..eebb2f68f3dd 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/curses/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/curses/default.nix
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ ocaml findlib ];
 
+  # Fix build for recent ncurses versions
+  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = [ "-DNCURSES_INTERNALS=1" ];
+
   createFindlibDestdir = true;
 
   postPatch = ''