diff --git a/ui/curses.c b/ui/curses.c
index ec281125acbd..84003f56a323 100644
--- a/ui/curses.c
+++ b/ui/curses.c
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ static void curses_update(DisplayChangeListener *dcl,
     line = screen + y * width;
     for (h += y; y < h; y ++, line += width) {
         for (x = 0; x < width; x++) {
-            chtype ch = line[x] & 0xff;
-            chtype at = line[x] & ~0xff;
+            chtype ch = line[x] & A_CHARTEXT;
+            chtype at = line[x] & A_ATTRIBUTES;
             ret = getcchar(&vga_to_curses[ch], wch, &attrs, &colors, NULL);
             if (ret == ERR || wch[0] == 0) {
                 wch[0] = ch;