diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 451b803b671..91acc455f18 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #14223: curses.addch() is no more limited to the range 0-255 when the
+  Python curses is not linked to libncursesw. It was a regression introduced
+  in Python 3.3a1.
+
 - Issue #14168: Check for presence of Element._attrs in minidom before
   accessing it.
 
diff --git a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
index 64178d7aefa..40b6e68aae4 100644
--- a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ PyCurses_ConvertToCchar_t(PyCursesWindowObject *win, PyObject *obj,
 #endif
     {
         *ch = (chtype)value;
-        if ((long)*ch != value || value < 0 || value > 255) {
+        if ((long)*ch != value) {
             PyErr_Format(PyExc_OverflowError,
                          "byte doesn't fit in chtype");
             return 0;