diff --git a/pkgs/applications/radio/unixcw/default.nix b/pkgs/by-name/un/unixcw/package.nix
similarity index 60%
rename from pkgs/applications/radio/unixcw/default.nix
rename to pkgs/by-name/un/unixcw/package.nix
index 8565b691802d..fc169b90d32f 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/radio/unixcw/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/un/unixcw/package.nix
@@ -1,33 +1,54 @@
 {
   lib,
-  mkDerivation,
+  stdenv,
   fetchurl,
   libpulseaudio,
   alsa-lib,
   pkg-config,
-  qtbase,
+  qt5,
+  ncurses,
+  autoreconfHook,
 }:
 
-mkDerivation rec {
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "unixcw";
   version = "3.5.1";
+
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "mirror://sourceforge/unixcw/unixcw_${version}.orig.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "5f3aacd8a26e16e6eff437c7ae1e9b389956fb137eeb3de24670ce05de479e7a";
+    hash = "sha256-Xzqs2KJuFubv9DfHrh6bOJlW+xN+6z3iRnDOBd5Hnno=";
   };
+
   patches = [
     ./remove-use-of-dlopen.patch
+
+    # fix pkg-config searching for ncurses
+    # yoinked from gentoo (https://gitweb.gentoo.org/repo/gentoo.git/tree/media-radio/unixcw/files/unixcw-3.6-tinfo.patch), with modifications
+    ./unixcw-3.6-tinfo.patch
   ];
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ pkg-config ];
+
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace src/cwcp/Makefile.am \
+      --replace-fail '-lcurses' '-lncurses'
+  '';
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    autoreconfHook
+    pkg-config
+    qt5.wrapQtAppsHook
+  ];
+
   buildInputs = [
     libpulseaudio
     alsa-lib
-    qtbase
+    qt5.qtbase
+    ncurses
   ];
+
   CFLAGS = "-lasound -lpulse-simple";
 
-  meta = with lib; {
-    description = "sound characters as Morse code on the soundcard or console speaker";
+  meta = {
+    description = "Sound characters as Morse code on the soundcard or console speaker";
     longDescription = ''
       unixcw is a project providing libcw library and a set of programs
       using the library: cw, cwgen, cwcp and xcwcp.
@@ -44,8 +65,8 @@ mkDerivation rec {
       cw reports any errors in  embedded  commands
     '';
     homepage = "https://unixcw.sourceforge.net";
-    maintainers = [ maintainers.mafo ];
-    license = licenses.gpl2;
-    platforms = platforms.linux;
+    maintainers = [ lib.maintainers.mafo ];
+    license = lib.licenses.gpl2Plus;
+    platforms = lib.platforms.linux;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/radio/unixcw/remove-use-of-dlopen.patch b/pkgs/by-name/un/unixcw/remove-use-of-dlopen.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/applications/radio/unixcw/remove-use-of-dlopen.patch
rename to pkgs/by-name/un/unixcw/remove-use-of-dlopen.patch
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/un/unixcw/unixcw-3.6-tinfo.patch b/pkgs/by-name/un/unixcw/unixcw-3.6-tinfo.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..01038fa1fdd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/un/unixcw/unixcw-3.6-tinfo.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+--- a/configure.ac	2017-03-07 13:31:46.074580930 +0100
++++ b/configure.ac	2017-03-07 13:33:25.640924331 +0100
+@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@
+     AC_DEFINE([LIBCW_WITH_PULSEAUDIO], [1], [Define as 1 if your build machine can support PulseAudio.])
+ fi
+ 
+-
++PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG
+ 
+ if test "$enable_cwcp" = "no" ; then
+    WITH_CWCP='no'
+@@ -355,6 +355,7 @@
+     AC_CHECK_LIB(curses, initscr)
+-    if test $ac_cv_lib_curses_initscr = 'yes' ; then
++    if true ; then
+ 	WITH_CWCP='yes'
++	PKG_CHECK_MODULES(ncurses, ncurses, [NCURSES_LIB="$ncurses_LIBS"], )
+     else
+ 	WITH_CWCP='no'
+ 	AC_MSG_WARN([Cannot find libcurses - unable to build cwcp])
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 07150af86a81..3e700a4d082f 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -17925,8 +17925,6 @@ with pkgs;
 
   unityhub = callPackage ../development/tools/unityhub { };
 
-  unixcw = libsForQt5.callPackage ../applications/radio/unixcw { };
-
   vaultenv = haskell.lib.justStaticExecutables haskellPackages.vaultenv;
 
   vaultwarden = callPackage ../tools/security/vaultwarden {