diff --git a/am/libcurses.m4 b/am/libcurses.m4
index 3dd1259..fe09781 100644
--- a/am/libcurses.m4
+++ b/am/libcurses.m4
@@ -88,19 +88,37 @@ AC_DEFUN([IU_LIB_TERMCAP], [
   if test "$LIBNCURSES"; then
     LIBTERMCAP="$LIBNCURSES"
   else
-    AC_CHECK_LIB(curses, tgetent, LIBTERMCAP=-lcurses)
-    if test "$ac_cv_lib_curses_tgetent" = no; then
-      AC_CHECK_LIB(termcap, tgetent, LIBTERMCAP=-ltermcap)
+    AC_CHECK_LIB(termcap, tgetent, LIBTERMCAP=-ltermcap)
+    AC_CHECK_HEADERS([termcap.h])
+    if test "$ac_cv_lib_termcap_tgetent" = yes \
+	|| test "$ac_cv_header_termcap_h" = yes; then
+      AC_DEFINE([HAVE_TERMCAP_TGETENT], 1,
+		[Define to 1 if tgetent() exists in <termcap.h>.])
+    else
+      AC_CHECK_LIB(curses, tgetent, LIBTERMCAP=-lcurses)
     fi
-    if test "$ac_cv_lib_termcap_tgetent" = no; then
+    if test "$ac_cv_lib_curses_tgetent" = yes \
+	&& test "$ac_cv_lib_termcap_tgetent" = no; then
+      AC_DEFINE([HAVE_CURSES_TGETENT], 1,
+		[Define to 1 if tgetent() exists in <curses.h>.])
+    fi
+    if test "$ac_cv_lib_curses_tgetent" = no \
+	&& test "$ac_cv_lib_termcap_tgetent" = no; then
       AC_CHECK_LIB(termlib, tgetent, LIBTERMCAP=-ltermlib)
+      if "$ac_cv_lib_termlib_tgetent" = yes; then
+	AC_DEFINE([HAVE_TERMINFO_TGETENT], 1,
+		  [Define to 1 if tgetent() exists in libterminfo.])
+      fi
+    fi
+    if test -n "$LIBTERMCAP"; then
+      AC_DEFINE([HAVE_TGETENT], 1, [Define to 1 if tgetent() exists.])
     fi
   fi
   AC_SUBST(LIBTERMCAP)])dnl
 
-dnl IU_LIB_CURSES -- checke for curses, and associated libraries
+dnl IU_LIB_CURSES -- check for curses, and associated libraries
 dnl
-dnl Checks for varions libraries implementing the curses interface, and if
+dnl Checks for various libraries implementing the curses interface, and if
 dnl found, defines LIBCURSES to be the appropriate linker specification,
 dnl *including* any termcap libraries if needed (some versions of curses
 dnl don't need termcap).
diff --git a/am/readline.m4 b/am/readline.m4
index b7ce9e4..1279c00 100644
--- a/am/readline.m4
+++ b/am/readline.m4
@@ -53,6 +53,20 @@ AC_DEFUN([gl_FUNC_READLINE],
     LIBS="$am_save_LIBS"
   ])
 
+  dnl In case of failure, examine whether libedit can act
+  dnl as replacement. Small NetBSD systems use editline
+  dnl as wrapper for readline.
+  if test "$gl_cv_lib_readline" = no; then
+    am_save_LIBS="$LIBS"
+    LIBS="$am_save_LIBS -ledit"
+    AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <stdio.h>
+#include <readline/readline.h>]],
+        [[readline((char*)0);]])],
+      [gl_cv_lib_readline="yes"])
+    LIBS="$am_save_LIBS"
+    LIBREADLINE=-ledit
+  fi
+
   if test "$gl_cv_lib_readline" != no; then
     AC_DEFINE([HAVE_READLINE], [1], [Define if you have the readline library.])
     extra_lib=`echo "$gl_cv_lib_readline" | sed -n -e 's/yes, requires //p'`
diff --git a/telnet/telnet.c b/telnet/telnet.c
index c5b4b19..d0e33d3 100644
--- a/telnet/telnet.c
+++ b/telnet/telnet.c
@@ -73,7 +73,9 @@
 #include "types.h"
 #include "general.h"
 
-#ifdef HAVE_READLINE
+#ifdef HAVE_TERMCAP_TGETENT
+# include <termcap.h>
+#elif defined HAVE_CURSES_TGETENT
 # include <curses.h>
 # include <term.h>
 #endif
@@ -729,7 +731,7 @@ int
 init_term (char *tname, int fd, int *errp)
 {
   int err = -1;
-#ifdef HAVE_READLINE
+#ifdef HAVE_TGETENT
   err = tgetent (termbuf, tname);
 #endif
   if (err == 1)
diff --git a/telnetd/utility.c b/telnetd/utility.c
index c9dbeeb..0101331 100644
--- a/telnetd/utility.c
+++ b/telnetd/utility.c
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@
 # define NET_ENCRYPT()
 #endif
 
-#ifdef HAVE_READLINE
+#ifdef HAVE_TERMCAP_TGETENT
+# include <termcap.h>
+#elif defined HAVE_CURSES_TGETENT
 # include <curses.h>
 # include <term.h>
 #endif
@@ -830,7 +832,7 @@ terminaltypeok (char *s)
   if (terminaltype == NULL)
     return 1;
 
-#ifdef HAVE_READLINE
+#ifdef HAVE_TGETENT
   if (tgetent (buf, s) == 0)
 #endif
     return 0;