diff --git a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
--- a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
@@ -870,31 +870,32 @@ static PyObject *
 PyCursesWindow_GetKey(PyCursesWindowObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
     int x, y;
-    int rtn;
+    int ct;
+    wint_t rtn;
 
     switch (PyTuple_Size(args)) {
     case 0:
         Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
-        rtn = wgetch(self->win);
+        ct = wget_wch(self->win, &rtn);
         Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
         break;
     case 2:
         if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args,"ii;y,x",&y,&x))
             return NULL;
         Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
-        rtn = mvwgetch(self->win,y,x);
+        ct = mvwget_wch(self->win,y,x,&rtn);
         Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
         break;
     default:
         PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "getkey requires 0 or 2 arguments");
         return NULL;
     }
-    if (rtn == ERR) {
-        /* getch() returns ERR in nodelay mode */
+    if (ct == ERR) {
+        /* get_wch() returns ERR in nodelay mode */
         PyErr_SetString(PyCursesError, "no input");
         return NULL;
-    } else if (rtn<=255) {
-        return Py_BuildValue("C", rtn);
+    } else if (rtn <= 255) {
+        return PyUnicode_FromOrdinal(rtn);
     } else {
         const char *knp;
 #if defined(__NetBSD__)
@@ -935,7 +936,7 @@ PyCursesWindow_Get_WCh(PyCursesWindowObj
         PyErr_SetString(PyCursesError, "no input");
         return NULL;
     }
-    return PyLong_FromLong(rtn);
+    return PyUnicode_FromOrdinal(rtn);
 }
 
 static PyObject *