diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index d5c301055f..18e737d985 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -270,6 +270,8 @@ int mingw_core_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+DECLARE_PROC_ADDR(kernel32.dll, BOOLEAN, CreateSymbolicLinkW, LPCWSTR, LPCWSTR, DWORD);
+
 /* Normalizes NT paths as returned by some low-level APIs. */
 static wchar_t *normalize_ntpath(wchar_t *wbuf)
 {
@@ -2172,6 +2174,34 @@ int link(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+int symlink(const char *target, const char *link)
+{
+	wchar_t wtarget[MAX_LONG_PATH], wlink[MAX_LONG_PATH];
+	int len;
+
+	/* fail if symlinks are disabled or API is not supported (WinXP) */
+	if (!has_symlinks || !INIT_PROC_ADDR(CreateSymbolicLinkW)) {
+		errno = ENOSYS;
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	if ((len = xutftowcs_long_path(wtarget, target)) < 0
+			|| xutftowcs_long_path(wlink, link) < 0)
+		return -1;
+
+	/* convert target dir separators to backslashes */
+	while (len--)
+		if (wtarget[len] == '/')
+			wtarget[len] = '\\';
+
+	/* create file symlink */
+	if (!CreateSymbolicLinkW(wlink, wtarget, 0)) {
+		errno = err_win_to_posix(GetLastError());
+		return -1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
 #ifndef _WINNT_H
 /*
  * The REPARSE_DATA_BUFFER structure is defined in the Windows DDK (in
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 228121ab83..5c7fdc1b67 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -123,8 +123,6 @@ struct utsname {
  * trivial stubs
  */
 
-static inline int symlink(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath)
-{ errno = ENOSYS; return -1; }
 static inline int fchmod(int fildes, mode_t mode)
 { errno = ENOSYS; return -1; }
 #ifndef __MINGW64_VERSION_MAJOR
@@ -216,6 +214,7 @@ int setitimer(int type, struct itimerval *in, struct itimerval *out);
 int sigaction(int sig, struct sigaction *in, struct sigaction *out);
 int link(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
 int uname(struct utsname *buf);
+int symlink(const char *target, const char *link);
 int readlink(const char *path, char *buf, size_t bufsiz);
 
 /*