diff --git a/distro/packages/ncurses.scm b/distro/packages/ncurses.scm
index 9764474c93..868222ef83 100644
--- a/distro/packages/ncurses.scm
+++ b/distro/packages/ncurses.scm
@@ -24,7 +24,14 @@
   #:use-module (guix build-system gnu))
 
 (define-public ncurses
-  (let ((post-install-phase
+  (let ((patch-makefile-phase
+         '(lambda _
+            (substitute* (find-files "." "Makefile.in")
+              (("^SHELL[[:blank:]]*=.*$") ""))))
+        (pre-install-phase
+         '(lambda _
+            (for-each patch-shebang (find-files "." "\\.sh$"))))
+        (post-install-phase
          '(lambda* (#:key outputs #:allow-other-keys)
             (let ((out (assoc-ref outputs "out")))
               ;; When building a wide-character (Unicode) build, create backward
@@ -81,9 +88,15 @@
                     '("--without-cxx-binding")
                     '()))
            #:tests? #f                            ; no "check" target
-           #:phases (alist-cons-after 'install 'post-install
-                                      ,post-install-phase
-                                      %standard-phases)
+           #:phases (alist-cons-after
+                     'install 'post-install ,post-install-phase
+                     (alist-cons-before
+                      'configure 'patch-makefile-SHELL
+                      ,patch-makefile-phase
+                      (alist-cons-before
+                       'install 'pre-install-phase
+                       ,pre-install-phase
+                       %standard-phases)))
 
            ;; The `ncursesw5-config' has a #!/bin/sh that we don't want to
            ;; patch, to avoid retaining a reference to the build-time Bash.