diff --git a/config/sst_check_curses.m4 b/config/sst_check_curses.m4
index 47699427b..1dbe0dcf6 100644
--- a/config/sst_check_curses.m4
+++ b/config/sst_check_curses.m4
@@ -1,25 +1,34 @@
+dnl -*- mode: autoconf; -*-
+
 AC_DEFUN([SST_CHECK_CURSES],
 [
   sst_check_curses_happy="yes"
 
-  AC_ARG_WITH([curses],
+  AC_ARG_WITH([ncurses],
     [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-ncurses@<:@=DIR or EXEC@:>@],
       [Use ncurses library found in DIR or associated with the ncursesN-config utility specified by EXEC])])
 
-  AS_IF([test "$with_curses" = "no"], [sst_check_curses_happy="no"])
+  AS_IF([test "$with_ncurses" = "no"], [sst_check_curses_happy="no"])
 
   NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE="no"
 
   dnl check if user provided a specific ncursesN-config
-  AS_IF([test ! -d "$with_curses"],
-    [AS_IF([test -x "$with_curses"],
-        [NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE=$with_curses])])
+  AS_IF([test ! -d "$with_ncurses"],
+    [AS_IF([test -x "$with_ncurses"],
+        [NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE=$with_ncurses])])
 
   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"], ["$with_curses/bin"])],
-        [AC_PATH_PROGS([NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE], ["ncurses6-config" "ncurses5.4-config" "ncurses5-config"], ["no"])])])
+    [AS_IF([test -n "$with_ncurses"],
+        [AC_PATH_PROGS([NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE],
+                       ["ncurses6-config" "ncursesw6-config" "ncurses5.4-config" "ncurses5-config"],
+                       ["no"], ["$with_ncurses/bin"])],
+        [AC_PATH_PROGS([NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE],
+                       ["ncurses6-config" "ncursesw6-config" "ncurses5.4-config" "ncurses5-config"],
+                       ["no"])])])
+
+  AC_MSG_CHECKING([ncurses config binary exists])
+  AC_MSG_RESULT([$NCURSES_CONFIG_EXE])
 
   dnl don't continue if ncursesN-config can't be found rather than look for the
   dnl specific libraries
@@ -44,10 +53,27 @@ AC_DEFUN([SST_CHECK_CURSES],
             CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $CURSES_CPPFLAGS"
             LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS $CURSES_LIBS"
 
-            dnl Check that the specific header exists and that the config-provided lib locations are correct.
+            dnl Check that the specific header exists and that plausible lib
+            dnl locations are correct.
             AC_LANG_PUSH([C++])
             AC_CHECK_HEADER([ncurses.h], [], [sst_check_curses_happy="no"])
-            AC_SEARCH_LIBS([initscr], [$CURSES_LIBS], [], [sst_check_curses_happy="no"])
+            dnl We cannot check that the config-provided lib names are
+            dnl correct, since those are not available at macro expansion
+            dnl time.  This is only necessary for platforms where libs are
+            dnl reported but are broken or don't actually exist.
+            dnl
+            dnl If nothing is specified for `action-if-found`, the library
+            dnl will be added to LIBS, which is not correct for our use case.
+            curses_check_lib_tmp=""
+            AS_IF([test "$sst_check_curses_happy" != "no"],
+              [AC_CHECK_LIB([ncursesw], [initscr], [curses_check_lib_tmp="ncursesw is valid"],
+                [AC_CHECK_LIB([ncurses], [initscr], [curses_check_lib_tmp="ncurses is valid"],
+                  [AC_CHECK_LIB([curses], [initscr], [curses_check_lib_tmp="curses is valid"],
+                    [sst_check_curses_happy="no"
+                     CURSES_CPPFLAGS=""
+                     CURSES_LIBS=""
+                    ])])])
+               ])
             AC_LANG_POP([C++])
 
             CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS_saved"
@@ -63,6 +89,6 @@ AC_DEFUN([SST_CHECK_CURSES],
   AC_MSG_CHECKING([for curses library])
   AC_MSG_RESULT([$sst_check_curses_happy])
 
-  AS_IF([test "$sst_check_curses_happy" = "no" -a ! -z "$with_curses" -a "$with_curses" != "no"], [$3])
+  AS_IF([test "$sst_check_curses_happy" = "no" -a ! -z "$with_ncurses" -a "$with_ncurses" != "no"], [$3])
   AS_IF([test "$sst_check_curses_happy" = "yes"], [$1], [$2])
 ])
diff --git a/src/sst/sst.conf b/src/sst/sst.conf
index 13adb0020..c30afb0b9 100644
--- a/src/sst/sst.conf
+++ b/src/sst/sst.conf
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ PYTHON_VERSION3=@PYTHON_VERSION3@
 LIBZ_CPPFLAGS=@LIBZ_CPPFLAGS@
 LIBZ_LDFLAGS=@LIBZ_LDFLAGS@
 LIBZ_LIBS=@LIBZ_LIBS@
+CURSES_CPPFLAGS=@CURSES_CPPFLAGS@
+CURSES_LIBS=@CURSES_LIBS@
 ELEMENT_CXXFLAGS=@SST_EXPORT_CXXFLAGS@ @SST_ELEMENT_FPIC_FLAGS@ -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I@prefix@/include
 ELEMENT_LDFLAGS=-shared -fno-common -Wl,-undefined -Wl,dynamic_lookup
 pkgconfig=@prefix@/lib/pkgconfig/SST-@PACKAGE_VERSION@.pc