https://sourceforge.net/p/dosbox/patches/286/

--- a/configure.ac	2019-11-12 17:55:51.000000000 +0000
+++ b/configure.ac	2020-01-02 21:26:27.551856431 +0000
@@ -235,36 +235,38 @@
 #Features to enable/disable
 AH_TEMPLATE(C_DEBUG,[Define to 1 to enable internal debugger, requires libcurses])
 AH_TEMPLATE(C_HEAVY_DEBUG,[Define to 1 to enable heavy debugging, also have to enable C_DEBUG])
-AC_ARG_ENABLE(debug,AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-debug],[Enable debug mode]),[
-   AC_CHECK_HEADER(curses.h,have_curses_h=yes,)
-   AC_CHECK_LIB(curses, initscr, have_curses_lib=yes, , )
-   AC_CHECK_LIB(ncurses, initscr, have_ncurses_lib=yes, , )
-   AC_CHECK_LIB(pdcurses, initscr, have_pdcurses_lib=yes, , )
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(debug,AC_HELP_STRING([--enable-debug],[Enable debug mode]),,enable_debug=no)
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether debug will be enabled)
+  
+if test x$enable_debug = xno; then
+  AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+else
+  AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
 
-   if test x$enable_debug = xno; then
-     AC_MSG_RESULT([Debugger not enabled])
-   elif test x$have_ncurses_lib = xyes -a x$have_curses_h = xyes ; then
-     LIBS="$LIBS -lncurses"
-     AC_DEFINE(C_DEBUG,1)
-     if test x$enable_debug = xheavy ; then 
-       AC_DEFINE(C_HEAVY_DEBUG,1)
-     fi
-   elif test x$have_curses_lib = xyes -a x$have_curses_h = xyes ; then
-     LIBS="$LIBS -lcurses"
-     AC_DEFINE(C_DEBUG,1)
-     if test x$enable_debug = xheavy ; then 
-       AC_DEFINE(C_HEAVY_DEBUG,1)
-     fi
-   elif test x$have_pdcurses_lib = xyes -a x$have_curses_h = xyes ; then
-     LIBS="$LIBS -lpdcurses"
-     AC_DEFINE(C_DEBUG,1)
-     if test x$enable_debug = xheavy ; then 
-       AC_DEFINE(C_HEAVY_DEBUG,1)
-     fi
-   else 
-     AC_MSG_ERROR([Can't find curses, which is required for debug mode])
-   fi
-],)
+  PKG_CHECK_MODULES(NCURSES, ncurses, [
+    LIBS="$LIBS $NCURSES_LIBS"; CFLAGS="$CFLAGS $NCURSES_CFLAGS"
+  ], [
+    AC_CHECK_HEADER(curses.h,have_curses_h=yes,)
+    AC_CHECK_LIB(curses, initscr, have_curses_lib=yes, , )
+    AC_CHECK_LIB(ncurses, initscr, have_ncurses_lib=yes, , )
+    AC_CHECK_LIB(pdcurses, initscr, have_pdcurses_lib=yes, , )
+
+    if test x$have_ncurses_lib = xyes -a x$have_curses_h = xyes ; then
+      LIBS="$LIBS -lncurses"
+    elif test x$have_curses_lib = xyes -a x$have_curses_h = xyes ; then
+      LIBS="$LIBS -lcurses"
+    elif test x$have_pdcurses_lib = xyes -a x$have_curses_h = xyes ; then
+      LIBS="$LIBS -lpdcurses"
+    else 
+      AC_MSG_ERROR([Can't find curses, which is required for debug mode])
+    fi
+  ])
+
+  AC_DEFINE(C_DEBUG,1)
+  if test x$enable_debug = xheavy; then 
+    AC_DEFINE(C_HEAVY_DEBUG,1)
+  fi
+fi
 
 AH_TEMPLATE(C_CORE_INLINE,[Define to 1 to use inlined memory functions in cpu core])
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(core-inline,AC_HELP_STRING([--disable-core-inline],[Disable inlined memory handling in CPU Core]),,enable_core_inline=yes)