diff --git a/editors/nano/Makefile b/editors/nano/Makefile
index 7f0555a61c31..0fb3c0ef8f78 100644
--- a/editors/nano/Makefile
+++ b/editors/nano/Makefile
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ LICENSE=	GPLv3
 
 CONFLICTS=	nano-devel-2*
 
+USES=		ncurses
 GNU_CONFIGURE=	yes
 
 CONFIGURE_ARGS=	--docdir=${DOCSDIR} --enable-utf8