diff --git a/configure b/configure
index f99665f..ccd8e44 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
 	shift
 done
 
-check_has_programs dialog ncurses
+check_has_programs dialog ncurses=ncursesw6-config
 
 # Wrap dialog in two functions to prevent it from cluttering stderr.
 function dialog_wrapper() { dialog_out=$(command dialog --colors "$@" 3>&2 2>&1 1>&3 3>&-); }
diff --git a/scripts/utils.sh b/scripts/utils.sh
index 80d601f..5d5447a 100644
--- a/scripts/utils.sh
+++ b/scripts/utils.sh
@@ -331,10 +331,22 @@ function parse_arguments() {
 
 function check_has_programs() {
 	local failed=()
+	local tuple
 	local program
-	for program in "$@"; do
-		type "$program" &>/dev/null \
-			|| failed+=("$program")
+	local checkfile
+	for tuple in "$@"; do
+		program="${tuple%%=*}"
+		checkfile="${tuple##*=}"
+		if [[ -z "$checkfile" ]]; then
+			type "$program" &>/dev/null \
+				|| failed+=("$program")
+		elif [[ "${checkfile:0:1}" == "/" ]]
+			[[ -e "$checkfile" ]] \
+				|| failed+=("$program")
+		else
+			type "$checkfile" &>/dev/null \
+				|| failed+=("$program")
+		fi
 	done
 
 	[[ "${#failed[@]}" -eq 0 ]] \