diff --git a/Lib/curses/wrapper.py b/Lib/curses/wrapper.py
index 3cdaa82d0a8..5183ce741f9 100644
--- a/Lib/curses/wrapper.py
+++ b/Lib/curses/wrapper.py
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ def wrapper(func, *args, **kwds):
         return func(stdscr, *args, **kwds)
     finally:
         # Set everything back to normal
-        stdscr.keypad(0)
-        curses.echo()
-        curses.nocbreak()
-        curses.endwin()
+        if 'stdscr' in locals():
+            stdscr.keypad(0)
+            curses.echo()
+            curses.nocbreak()
+            curses.endwin()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index d562026ff88..10f7d6b2ee1 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #5622: Fix curses.wrapper to raise correct exception if curses
+  initialization fails.
+
 - Issue #11391: Writing to a mmap object created with
   ``mmap.PROT_READ|mmap.PROT_EXEC`` would segfault instead of raising a
   TypeError.  Patch by Charles-François Natali.