diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 5af574a5..09e29dc2 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -269,8 +269,9 @@ if test "$enable_client" = yes ; then
 	AC_CHECK_LIB(ncurses, tgetent, USE_TERMCAP_LIB=-lncurses,
 		AC_CHECK_LIB(curses, tgetent, USE_TERMCAP_LIB=-lcurses,
 			AC_CHECK_LIB(tinfow, tgetent, USE_TERMCAP_LIB=-ltinfow,
-				AC_CHECK_LIB(tinfo, tgetent, USE_TERMCAP_LIB=-ltinfo
-					AC_CHECK_LIB(termcap, tgetent, USE_TERMCAP_LIB=-ltermcap)))))
+				AC_CHECK_LIB(tinfo, tgetent, USE_TERMCAP_LIB=-ltinfo,
+					AC_CHECK_LIB(termcap, tgetent, USE_TERMCAP_LIB=-ltermcap,
+						AC_MSG_ERROR([[The client requires ncurses library. Either install the library or use --disable-client to compile without the client.]]))))))
 	AC_CHECK_LIB(readline, rl_callback_read_char, CLIENT_LIBS="-lreadline $CLIENT_LIBS $USE_TERMCAP_LIB",
 		AC_MSG_ERROR([[The client requires GNU readline library 2.1 or newer. Either install the library or use --disable-client to compile without the client.]]), $USE_TERMCAP_LIB)
 	AC_CHECK_LIB(readline, rl_crlf, AC_DEFINE(HAVE_RL_CRLF),,$USE_TERMCAP_LIB)