diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b12253fa..2c7bbfe6 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ AC_CHECK_LIB(regex, regcomp, LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS -lregex", )
 dnl ================================
 dnl = checking for various headers =
 dnl ================================
-AC_CHECK_HEADERS([dirent.h regex.h], , AC_MSG_ERROR(vital headers missing))
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS([netinet/tcp.h netinet/in.h], , AC_MSG_ERROR(vital headers missing))
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([langinfo.h], , AC_MSG_WARN(locale detection disabled))
 
 dnl ==============================
diff --git a/src/ncmpcpp.cpp b/src/ncmpcpp.cpp
index cfd4ed5c..92bf84df 100644
--- a/src/ncmpcpp.cpp
+++ b/src/ncmpcpp.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 #include <clocale>
 #include <csignal>
 #include <cstring>
+#include <netinet/tcp.h>
+#include <netinet/in.h>
 
 #include <boost/locale.hpp>
 #include <iostream>
@@ -177,6 +179,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 							myPlaylist->main().highlight(curr_pos);
 					}
 					
+					// Set TCP_NODELAY on the tcp socket as this significantly speeds up operations.
+					int flag = 1;
+					setsockopt(Mpd.GetFD(), IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_NODELAY, &flag, sizeof(flag));
+
 					// go to startup screen
 					if (Config.startup_screen_type != myScreen->type())
 						toScreen(Config.startup_screen_type)->switchTo();