diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index dbef95d9..70f16b32 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ ifeq ($(debug),yes)
     suffix := .debug
 else
     ifeq ($(debug),no)
-        CXXFLAGS += -O3
         suffix := .opt
     else
         $(error debug should be either yes or no)
@@ -22,8 +21,6 @@ mandocs := $(docs:.asciidoc=.gz)
 PREFIX ?= /usr/local
 DESTDIR ?= # root dir
 
-NCURSESW_INCLUDE ?= /usr/include/ncursesw
-
 bindir := $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin
 sharedir := $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/share/kak
 docdir := $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/share/doc/kak
@@ -49,8 +46,7 @@ else ifneq (,$(findstring CYGWIN,$(os)))
     CPPFLAGS += -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=700
     LIBS += -lncursesw -lboost_regex -ldbghelp
 else
-    LIBS += -lncursesw -lboost_regex
-    CPPFLAGS += -I$(NCURSESW_INCLUDE)
+    LIBS += -lboost_regex
     LDFLAGS += -rdynamic
 endif