diff --git a/caca/driver_ncurses.c b/caca/driver_ncurses.c
index 7d475ab..16023f0 100644
--- a/caca/driver_ncurses.c
+++ b/caca/driver_ncurses.c
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@
 
 #if defined(USE_NCURSES)
 
-#if defined(HAVE_NCURSES_H)
+#if defined(HAVE_NCURSESW_NCURSES_H)
+#   include <ncursesw/ncurses.h>
+#elif defined(HAVE_NCURSES_NCURSES_H)
+#   include <ncurses/ncurses.h>
+#elif defined(HAVE_NCURSES_H)
 #   include <ncurses.h>
 #else
 #   include <curses.h>
@@ -53,6 +57,7 @@ static caca_t *sigwinch_kk; /* FIXME: we ought to get rid of this */
 #if defined(HAVE_GETENV) && defined(HAVE_PUTENV)
 static void ncurses_check_terminal(void);
 #endif
+static void ncurses_write_utf32(uint32_t);
 
 struct driver_private
 {
@@ -192,13 +197,8 @@ static void ncurses_display(caca_t *kk)
         move(y, 0);
         for(x = kk->qq->width; x--; )
         {
-            uint32_t c = *chars++;
-
             attrset(kk->drv.p->attr[*attr++]);
-            if(c > 0x00000020 && c < 0x00000080)
-                addch((char)c);
-            else
-                addch(' ');
+            ncurses_write_utf32(*chars++);
         }
     }
     refresh();
@@ -453,6 +453,49 @@ static void ncurses_check_terminal(void)
 }
 #endif
 
+static void ncurses_write_utf32(uint32_t c)
+{
+#if defined(HAVE_NCURSESW_NCURSES_H)
+    static const uint8_t mark[7] =
+    {
+        0x00, 0x00, 0xC0, 0xE0, 0xF0, 0xF8, 0xFC
+    };
+
+    char buf[10], *parser;
+    int bytes;
+#endif
+
+    if(c < 0x80)
+    {
+        addch(c);
+        return;
+    }
+
+#if defined(HAVE_NCURSESW_NCURSES_H)
+    if(c < 0x10000)
+    {
+        addch(c); /* FIXME: doesn't work either */
+        return;
+    }
+
+    bytes = (c < 0x800) ? 2 : (c < 0x10000) ? 3 : 4;
+    buf[bytes] = '\0';
+    parser = buf + bytes;
+
+    switch(bytes)
+    {
+        case 4: *--parser = (c | 0x80) & 0xbf; c >>= 6;
+        case 3: *--parser = (c | 0x80) & 0xbf; c >>= 6;
+        case 2: *--parser = (c | 0x80) & 0xbf; c >>= 6;
+    }
+    *--parser = c | mark[bytes];
+
+    addstr(buf);
+#else
+    addch(' ');
+#endif
+}
+
 /*
  * Driver initialisation
  */
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index f9bae02..9cdd782 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -158,17 +158,24 @@ fi
 
 if test "${enable_ncurses}" != "no"; then
   ac_cv_my_have_ncurses="no"
-  AC_CHECK_HEADERS(curses.h ncurses.h,
-   [AC_CHECK_LIB(ncurses, initscr,
-     [ac_cv_my_have_ncurses="yes"
-      AC_DEFINE(USE_NCURSES, 1, Define to 1 to activate the ncurses backend driver)
-      CACA_LIBS="${CACA_LIBS} -lncurses"
-      CACA_DRIVERS="${CACA_DRIVERS} ncurses"
-      dnl  Check for resizeterm or resize_term
-      SAVED_LIBS="${LIBS}"
-      LIBS="${LIBS} -lncurses"
-      AC_CHECK_FUNCS(resizeterm resize_term)
-      LIBS="${SAVED_LIBS}"])
+  AC_CHECK_HEADERS(ncursesw/ncurses.h ncurses/ncurses.h ncurses.h curses.h,
+   [ncurses="no"
+    AC_CHECK_LIB(ncursesw, initscr,
+     [ncurses="-lncursesw"],
+     [AC_CHECK_LIB(ncurses, initscr,
+       [ncurses="-lncurses"])])
+    if test "${ncurses}" = "no"; then
+      continue
+    fi
+    ac_cv_my_have_ncurses="yes"
+    AC_DEFINE(USE_NCURSES, 1, Define to 1 to activate the ncurses backend driver)
+    CACA_LIBS="${CACA_LIBS} ${ncurses}"
+    CACA_DRIVERS="${CACA_DRIVERS} ncurses"
+    dnl  Check for resizeterm or resize_term
+    SAVED_LIBS="${LIBS}"
+    LIBS="${LIBS} ${ncurses}"
+    AC_CHECK_FUNCS(resizeterm resize_term)
+    LIBS="${SAVED_LIBS}"
     break])
   if test "${ac_cv_my_have_ncurses}" = "no" -a "${enable_ncurses}" = "yes"; then
     AC_MSG_ERROR([cannot find ncurses development files])