diff -urN a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
--- a/configure.ac	2013-12-26 18:49:05.570466100 +0000
+++ b/configure.ac	2013-12-26 18:49:10.319737700 +0000
@@ -1737,7 +1737,9 @@
 fi
 AC_HEADER_STDC
 ac_save_cppflags="$CPPFLAGS"
+if test yes != "$cross_compiling"; then
 CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -I/usr/include/ncursesw"
+fi
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS(asm/types.h conio.h curses.h direct.h dlfcn.h errno.h \
 fcntl.h grp.h \
 ieeefp.h io.h langinfo.h libintl.h ncurses.h process.h \
@@ -4666,7 +4668,9 @@
 fi
 
 ac_save_cppflags="$CPPFLAGS"
+if test yes != "$cross_compiling"; then
 CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -I/usr/include/ncursesw"
+fi
 # On HP/UX 11.0, mvwdelch is a block with a return statement
 AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether mvwdelch is an expression)
 AC_CACHE_VAL(ac_cv_mvwdelch_is_expression,