diff --git a/lib/libncurses/lib_addch.c b/lib/libncurses/lib_addch.c
index 5ec657640e9..00684eddd1d 100644
--- a/lib/libncurses/lib_addch.c
+++ b/lib/libncurses/lib_addch.c
@@ -56,14 +56,10 @@ chtype	ch = c;
         	T(("win attr = %x", win->_attrs));
 		ch |= win->_attrs;
 
-		/* Don't attempt to replace any given attributes */
-		if ((ch&A_ATTRIBUTES) == A_NORMAL) {
-			if (ch == ' ')
-				ch = win->_bkgd;
+		if (win->_line[y][x]&A_CHARTEXT == ' ')
+			ch |= win->_bkgd;
 		else
 			ch |= (win->_bkgd&A_ATTRIBUTES);
-		}
-
 		T(("bkg = %x -> ch = %x", win->_bkgd, ch));
 
 		if (win->_line[y][x] != ch) {
diff --git a/lib/libncurses/lib_bkgd.c b/lib/libncurses/lib_bkgd.c
index f54e4d130c1..0210995b7eb 100644
--- a/lib/libncurses/lib_bkgd.c
+++ b/lib/libncurses/lib_bkgd.c
@@ -27,13 +27,10 @@ int x, y;
 	T(("wbkgd(%x, %x) called", win, ch));
 	for (y = 0; y < win->_maxy; y++)
 		for (x = 0; x < win->_maxx; x++) 
-			/* Don't attempt to replace existing attrs */
-			if ((win->_line[y][x]&A_ATTRIBUTES) == A_NORMAL) {
-				if (win->_line[y][x] == ' ')
-					win->_line[y][x] = ch;
+			if (win->_line[y][x]&A_CHARTEXT == ' ')
+				win->_line[y][x] |= ch;
 			else
 				win->_line[y][x] |= (ch&A_ATTRIBUTES);
-			}
 	touchwin(win);
 	return OK;
 }