diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/util-linux/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/util-linux/package.py
index d5f24e4e5d..f51b7b6e9f 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/util-linux/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/util-linux/package.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ class UtilLinux(AutotoolsPackage):
 
     depends_on('python@2.7:', type='build')
     depends_on('pkgconfig', type='build')
+    depends_on('ncurses', type='link')
 
     variant('bash', default=False, description='Install bash completion scripts')