diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 23e1301021bf74..82d3f3089a16f7 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1043,9 +1043,26 @@ int mingw_lstat(const char *file_name, struct stat *buf)
 {
 	return do_lstat(0, file_name, buf);
 }
+
 int mingw_stat(const char *file_name, struct stat *buf)
 {
-	return do_lstat(1, file_name, buf);
+	wchar_t wfile_name[MAX_LONG_PATH];
+	HANDLE hnd;
+	int result;
+
+	/* open the file and let Windows resolve the links */
+	if (xutftowcs_long_path(wfile_name, file_name) < 0)
+		return -1;
+	hnd = CreateFileW(wfile_name, 0,
+			FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE | FILE_SHARE_DELETE, NULL,
+			OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS, NULL);
+	if (hnd == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
+		errno = err_win_to_posix(GetLastError());
+		return -1;
+	}
+	result = get_file_info_by_handle(hnd, buf);
+	CloseHandle(hnd);
+	return result;
 }
 
 int mingw_fstat(int fd, struct stat *buf)