diff --git a/collects/readline/mzrl.rkt b/collects/readline/mzrl.rkt
index 2885d71f84..5a649a2555 100644
--- a/collects/readline/mzrl.rkt
+++ b/collects/readline/mzrl.rkt
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@
          set-completion-function!
          readline-newline readline-redisplay)
 
-;; libtermcap needed on some platforms
-(define libtermcap  (with-handlers ([exn:fail? void]) (ffi-lib "libtermcap")))
+;; libncurses and/or libtermcap needed on some platforms
+(void (ffi-lib "libcurses" #:fail (lambda () #f)))
+(void (ffi-lib "libtermcap" #:fail (lambda () #f)))
+
 (define libreadline (ffi-lib "libreadline" '("5" "6" "4" "")))
 
 (define make-byte-string ; helper for the two types below