diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libedit/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libedit/package.py
index bcd5212b9ea..faed8bad374 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libedit/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libedit/package.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ class Libedit(Package):
 
     version('3.1', '43cdb5df3061d78b5e9d59109871b4f6', url="http://thrysoee.dk/editline/libedit-20150325-3.1.tar.gz")
 
+    depends_on('ncurses')
+
     def install(self, spec, prefix):
         configure('--prefix=%s' % prefix)