Index: Modules/_cursesmodule.c
===================================================================
--- Modules/_cursesmodule.c	(revision 73552)
+++ Modules/_cursesmodule.c	(working copy)
@@ -868,6 +868,7 @@
 {
   int x, y;
   int rtn;
+  const char *knp;
 
   switch (PyTuple_Size(args)) {
   case 0:
@@ -890,14 +891,17 @@
     /* getch() returns ERR in nodelay mode */
     PyErr_SetString(PyCursesError, "no input");
     return NULL;
-  } else if (rtn<=255)
+  } else if (rtn<=255) {
     return Py_BuildValue("C", rtn);
-  else
+  } else {
 #if defined(__NetBSD__)
-    return PyUnicode_FromString(unctrl(rtn));
+    knp = unctrl(rtn);
+    return PyUnicode_FromString(knp);
 #else
-    return PyUnicode_FromString((const char *)keyname(rtn));
+    knp = keyname(rtn);
+    return PyUnicode_FromString((knp == NULL) ? "" : knp);
 #endif
+  }
 }
 
 static PyObject *