diff --git a/config/sst_check_curses.m4 b/config/sst_check_curses.m4
index 8f398ac90..dc2cd62e1 100644
--- a/config/sst_check_curses.m4
+++ b/config/sst_check_curses.m4
@@ -4,48 +4,59 @@ AC_DEFUN([SST_CHECK_CURSES],
 
   AC_ARG_WITH([curses],
     [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-ncurses@<:@=DIR or EXEC@:>@],
-      [Use ncurses library found in DIR or associated with the ncurses6-config utility specified by EXEC])])
+      [Use ncurses library found in DIR or associated with the ncursesN-config utility specified by EXEC])])
 
   AS_IF([test "$with_curses" = "no"], [sst_check_curses_happy="no"])
 
   NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE="no"
 
-  dnl check if user provided a specific ncurses6-config
+  dnl check if user provided a specific ncursesN-config
   AS_IF([test ! -d "$with_curses"],
     [AS_IF([test -x "$with_curses"],
         [NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE=$with_curses])])
 
-  dnl test ncurses6-config
+  dnl test ncursesN-config
+  AS_IF([test $NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE = "no"],
+    [AS_IF([test -n "$with_curses"],
+        [AC_PATH_PROGS([NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE], ["ncurses6-config" "ncurses5.4-config" "ncurses5-config"], ["no"], ["$with_curses/bin"])],
+        [AC_PATH_PROGS([NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE], ["ncurses6-config" "ncurses5.4-config" "ncurses5-config"], ["no"])])])
   AS_IF([test $NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE = "no"],
     [AS_IF([test -n "$with_curses"],
         [AC_PATH_PROGS([NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE], ["ncurses6-config"], ["no"], ["$with_curses/bin"])],
         [AC_PATH_PROGS([NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE], ["ncurses6-config"], ["no"])])])
 
-  dnl error if ncurses6-config can't be found rather than look for the
+  dnl don't continue if ncursesN-config can't be found rather than look for the
   dnl specific libraries
-  AC_MSG_CHECKING([ncurses6-config exists])
-  AC_MSG_RESULT([$NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE])
   AS_IF([test $NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE = "no"],
-        [AC_MSG_ERROR([Unable to locate ncurses6-config utility])])
-
-  dnl Older versions only have --libs, not --libs-only-l and --libs-only-L,
-  dnl which combines the two.  Ideally, CURSES_LDFLAGS (sstinfo_x_LDFLAGS)
-  dnl contains --libs-only-L and CURSES_LIBS (sstinfo_x_LDADD) contains
-  dnl --libs-only-l, but rather than complicated logic testing the above,
-  dnl combining everything into LDADD seems acceptable..
-  CURSES_CPPFLAGS=`$NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE --cflags`
-  CURSES_LIBS=`$NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE --libs`
-
-  CPPFLAGS_saved="$CPPFLAGS"
-  LDFLAGS_saved="$LDFLAGS"
-
-dnl Check for header
-  AC_LANG_PUSH([C++])
-  AC_CHECK_HEADER([ncurses.h], [], [sst_check_curses_happy="no"])
-  AC_LANG_POP([C++])
-
-  CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS_saved"
-  LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS_saved"
+        [
+            CURSES_CPPFLAGS=
+            CURSES_LIBS=
+            sst_check_curses_happy="no"
+        ],
+        [
+            dnl Older versions only have --libs, not --libs-only-l and --libs-only-L,
+            dnl which combines the two.  Ideally, CURSES_LDFLAGS (sstinfo_x_LDFLAGS)
+            dnl contains --libs-only-L and CURSES_LIBS (sstinfo_x_LDADD) contains
+            dnl --libs-only-l, but rather than complicated logic testing the above,
+            dnl combining everything into LDADD seems acceptable..
+            CURSES_CPPFLAGS=`$NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE --cflags`
+            CURSES_LIBS=`$NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE --libs`
+
+            CPPFLAGS_saved="$CPPFLAGS"
+            LDFLAGS_saved="$LDFLAGS"
+
+            CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $CURSES_CPPFLAGS"
+            LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS $CURSES_LIBS"
+
+            dnl Check for specific header
+            AC_LANG_PUSH([C++])
+            AC_CHECK_HEADER([ncurses.h], [], [sst_check_curses_happy="no"])
+            AC_LANG_POP([C++])
+
+            CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS_saved"
+            LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS_saved"
+        ]
+   )
 
   AC_SUBST([CURSES_CPPFLAGS])
   AC_SUBST([CURSES_LIBS])