diff -r f611e2244c69 Modules/_cursesmodule.c
--- a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c	Mon Nov 23 22:18:55 2015 -0800
+++ b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c	Tue Nov 24 13:38:30 2015 +0200
@@ -1070,7 +1070,7 @@
         return NULL;
 
 #ifdef WINDOW_HAS_FLAGS
-    if (self->win->_flags & _ISPAD)
+    if (is_pad(self->win))
         return PyCursesCheckERR(pechochar(self->win, ch | attr),
                                 "echochar");
     else
@@ -1593,7 +1593,7 @@
 #ifndef WINDOW_HAS_FLAGS
     if (0)
 #else
-        if (self->win->_flags & _ISPAD)
+        if (is_pad(self->win))
 #endif
         {
             switch(PyTuple_Size(args)) {
@@ -1768,7 +1768,7 @@
 #ifndef WINDOW_HAS_FLAGS
     if (0)
 #else
-        if (self->win->_flags & _ISPAD)
+        if (is_pad(self->win))
 #endif
         {
             switch(PyTuple_Size(args)) {
@@ -1835,7 +1835,7 @@
 
     /* printf("Subwin: %i %i %i %i   \n", nlines, ncols, begin_y, begin_x); */
 #ifdef WINDOW_HAS_FLAGS
-    if (self->win->_flags & _ISPAD)
+    if (is_pad(self->win))
         win = subpad(self->win, nlines, ncols, begin_y, begin_x);
     else
 #endif