diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/cdecl/cdecl-2.5.patch b/pkgs/development/tools/cdecl/cdecl-2.5.patch
index b66ee1a2c4e..4b00849f372 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/cdecl/cdecl-2.5.patch
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/cdecl/cdecl-2.5.patch
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ index 9e85686..b8e6e02 100644
  # add -DUSE_READLINE	To compile in support for the GNU readline library.
  
 -CFLAGS= -s -O2 -DUSE_READLINE
-+
++CFLAGS=-DUSE_READLINE
  CC= gcc
 -LIBS= -lreadline -ltermcap
-+
++LIBS= -lreadline -lncursesw
  ALLFILES= makefile cdgram.y cdlex.l cdecl.c cdecl.1 testset testset++
 -BINDIR= /usr/bin
 -MANDIR= /usr/man/man1
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/cdecl/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/cdecl/default.nix
index 65377508d9f..c2682391c55 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/cdecl/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/cdecl/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{stdenv, fetchurl, yacc, flex, readline}:
+{stdenv, fetchurl, yacc, flex, readline, ncurses}:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "cdecl-2.5";
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   preBuild = "
     makeFlags=\"PREFIX=$out\"
   ";
-  buildInputs = [yacc flex readline];
+  buildInputs = [yacc flex readline ncurses];
 
   meta = {
     description = "Translator English -- C/C++ declarations";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 7f36cf1ae8e..20c5daf9c1a 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ let
   };
 
   cdecl = import ../development/tools/cdecl {
-    inherit fetchurl stdenv yacc flex readline;
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv yacc flex readline ncurses;
   };
 
   cdrdao = import ../tools/cd-dvd/cdrdao {