diff --git a/lib/libcurses/Makefile b/lib/libcurses/Makefile
index 5f94df842903..5477a68ea390 100644
--- a/lib/libcurses/Makefile
+++ b/lib/libcurses/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#	$NetBSD: Makefile,v 1.91 2019/09/02 09:08:29 roy Exp $
+#	$NetBSD: Makefile,v 1.92 2019/09/03 10:36:17 roy Exp $
 #	@(#)Makefile	8.2 (Berkeley) 1/2/94
 
 .include <bsd.own.mk>
@@ -210,10 +210,8 @@ SUBDIR.roff+= PSD.doc
 fileio.h: shlib_version genfileioh.awk
 	${TOOL_AWK} -f ${.CURDIR}/genfileioh.awk < ${.CURDIR}/shlib_version > ${.CURDIR}/fileio.h
 
-NETBSD_VERSION!=	${HOST_SH} ${NETBSDSRCDIR}/sys/conf/osrelease.sh
-CPPFLAGS.version.c+=	-DNETBSD_VERSION=\"${NETBSD_VERSION}\"
-.PATH:			${NETBSDSRCDIR}/sys/sys
-version.o:		param.h
+CURSES_VERSION!=	${HOST_SH} ${.CURDIR}/cursesrelease.sh
+CPPFLAGS.version.c+=	-DCURSES_VERSION=\"${CURSES_VERSION}\"
 
 .include <bsd.lib.mk>
 .include <bsd.subdir.mk>
diff --git a/lib/libcurses/curses.h b/lib/libcurses/curses.h
index e11eb647ca1b..1164f0826013 100644
--- a/lib/libcurses/curses.h
+++ b/lib/libcurses/curses.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*	$NetBSD: curses.h,v 1.124 2019/09/02 09:08:29 roy Exp $	*/
+/*	$NetBSD: curses.h,v 1.125 2019/09/03 10:36:17 roy Exp $	*/
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 1981, 1993, 1994
@@ -47,6 +47,23 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 
+/*
+ *	#define __NetBSD_Curses_Version__ MMmmrrpp00
+ *
+ * M = major version
+ * m = minor version; a minor number of 99 indicates current
+ * r = 0 (*)
+ * p = patchlevel
+ *
+ * This is similar to __NetBSD_Version__ as found in sys/param.h
+ * It is maintained seperately and has no correlation to it or the
+ * ELF symver libcurses is built as.
+ */
+#define	__NetBSD_Curses_Version__	0200000000 /* NetBSD-Curses 2.0.0 */
+
+#define __NetBSD_Curses_Prereq__(M,m,p) (((((M) * 100000000) + \
+	        (m) * 1000000) + (p) * 100) <= __NetBSD_Curses_Version__)
+
 /*
  * attr_t must be the same size as wchar_t (see <wchar.h>) to avoid padding
  * in __LDATA.
diff --git a/lib/libcurses/cursesrelease.sh b/lib/libcurses/cursesrelease.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..911fcabf29a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/libcurses/cursesrelease.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+#	$NetBSD: cursesrelease.sh,v 1.1 2019/09/03 10:36:17 roy Exp $
+#
+# Copyright (c) 1997 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
+# All rights reserved.
+#
+# This code is derived from software contributed to The NetBSD Foundation
+# by Luke Mewburn.
+#
+# Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+# modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+# are met:
+# 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+#    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+# 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+#    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
+#    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+#
+# THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE NETBSD FOUNDATION, INC. AND CONTRIBUTORS
+# ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
+# TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+# PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION OR CONTRIBUTORS
+# BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
+# CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
+# SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
+# INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
+# CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
+# ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
+# POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+#
+
+# We use the number specified in <curses.h>
+
+path="$0"
+[ "${path#/*}" = "$path" ] && path="./$path"
+exec < ${path%/*}/curses.h
+
+# Search for line
+# #define __NetBSD_Curses_Version__ <ver_num> /* NetBSD-Curses <ver_text> */
+#
+# <ver_num> and <ver_text> should match!
+
+while
+	read define ver_tag rel_num comment_start NetBSD rel_text rest || exit 1
+do
+	[ "$define" = "#define" ] || continue;
+	[ "$ver_tag" = "__NetBSD_Curses_Version__" ] || continue
+	break
+done
+
+# ${rel_num} is [M]Mmm00pp00
+rel_num=${rel_num%??}
+rel_MMmm=${rel_num%????}
+rel_MM=${rel_MMmm%??}
+rel_mm=${rel_MMmm#${rel_MM}}
+rel_pp=${rel_num#${rel_MMmm}00}
+
+echo "${rel_MM#0}.${rel_mm#0}.${rel_pp#0}"
diff --git a/lib/libcurses/version.c b/lib/libcurses/version.c
index efe60d170f1f..426687756583 100644
--- a/lib/libcurses/version.c
+++ b/lib/libcurses/version.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*	$NetBSD: version.c,v 1.1 2019/09/02 09:08:29 roy Exp $	*/
+/*	$NetBSD: version.c,v 1.2 2019/09/03 10:36:17 roy Exp $	*/
 
 /*-
  * Copyright (c) 2019 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 #include <sys/cdefs.h>
 #ifndef lint
-__RCSID("$NetBSD: version.c,v 1.1 2019/09/02 09:08:29 roy Exp $");
+__RCSID("$NetBSD: version.c,v 1.2 2019/09/03 10:36:17 roy Exp $");
 #endif
 
 #include "curses.h"
@@ -40,5 +40,5 @@ const char *
 curses_version()
 {
 
-	return "NetBSD-Curses " NETBSD_VERSION;
+	return "NetBSD-Curses " CURSES_VERSION;
 }