diff --git a/pkgs/applications/audio/ecasound/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/audio/ecasound/default.nix
index 47db22016485..108be8726c50 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/audio/ecasound/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/audio/ecasound/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 { lib, stdenv
 , fetchurl
+, fetchpatch
 , pkg-config
 , alsa-lib
 , audiofile
@@ -28,6 +29,16 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sha256 = "1m7njfjdb7sqf0lhgc4swihgdr4snkg8v02wcly08wb5ar2fr2s6";
   };
 
+  patches = [
+    # Pull patch pending upstream inclusion for ncurses-6.3:
+    #  https://sourceforge.net/p/ecasound/bugs/54/
+    (fetchpatch {
+      name = "ncursdes-6.3.patch";
+      url = "https://sourceforge.net/p/ecasound/bugs/54/attachment/0001-ecasignalview.cpp-always-use-s-style-format-for-prin.patch";
+      sha256 = "1x1gsjzd43lh19mhpmwrbq269h56s8bxgyv0yfi5yf0sqjf9vaq0";
+    })
+  ];
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     pkg-config
   ];