diff --git a/ext/svi/extconf.rb b/ext/svi/extconf.rb
index 44f3572..fa69af6 100644
--- a/ext/svi/extconf.rb
+++ b/ext/svi/extconf.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require "mkmf"
 
 abort("Error: missing curses.h") unless have_header("curses.h")
+abort("Error: missing curses library") unless have_library("curses")
 
 create_makefile "svi/svi"