diff --git a/pkgs/applications/audio/squishyball/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/audio/squishyball/default.nix
index 2022183f4a0..496ce779ffb 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/audio/squishyball/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/audio/squishyball/default.nix
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ flac libao libvorbis ncurses opusfile ];
 
+  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-DNCURSES_INTERNALS";
+
   patches = [ ./gnu-screen.patch ];
 
   postInstall = ''