diff --git a/t/annotate-tests.sh b/t/annotate-tests.sh
index 304c7b7d87..4039723927 100644
--- a/t/annotate-tests.sh
+++ b/t/annotate-tests.sh
@@ -251,27 +251,27 @@ test_expect_success 'blame -L X,-N' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/ (RE to end)' '
-	check_count -L/evil/ C 1 "A U Thor" 1
+	check_count -L/\;*evil/ C 1 "A U Thor" 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/,/RE2/' '
-	check_count -L/robot/,/green/ A 1 B 1 B2 1 D 1 E 1
+	check_count -L/\;*robot/,/\;*green/ A 1 B 1 B2 1 D 1 E 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L X,/RE/' '
-	check_count -L5,/evil/ B1 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
+	check_count -L5,/\;*evil/ B1 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/,Y' '
-	check_count -L/99/,7 B1 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
+	check_count -L/\;*99/,7 B1 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/,+N' '
-	check_count -L/99/,+3 B1 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
+	check_count -L/\;*99/,+3 B1 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/,-N' '
-	check_count -L/99/,-3 B 1 B2 1 D 1
+	check_count -L/\;*99/,-3 B 1 B2 1 D 1
 '
 
 # 'file' ends with an incomplete line, so 'wc' reports one fewer lines than
@@ -337,19 +337,19 @@ test_expect_success 'blame -L multiple (superset/subset: unordered)' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/ (relative)' '
-	check_count -L3,3 -L/fox/ B1 1 B2 1 C 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
+	check_count -L3,3 -L/\;*fox/ B1 1 B2 1 C 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/ (relative: no preceding range)' '
-	check_count -L/dog/ A 1 B 1 B1 1 B2 1 C 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
+	check_count -L/\;*dog/ A 1 B 1 B1 1 B2 1 C 1 D 1 "A U Thor" 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/ (relative: adjacent)' '
-	check_count -L1,1 -L/dog/,+1 A 1 E 1
+	check_count -L1,1 -L/\;*dog/,+1 A 1 E 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/ (relative: not found)' '
-	test_must_fail $PROG -L4,4 -L/dog/ file
+	test_must_fail $PROG -L4,4 -L/\;*dog/ file
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/ (relative: end-of-file)' '
@@ -357,11 +357,11 @@ test_expect_success 'blame -L /RE/ (relative: end-of-file)' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L ^/RE/ (absolute)' '
-	check_count -L3,3 -L^/dog/,+2 A 1 B2 1
+	check_count -L3,3 -L^/\;*dog/,+2 A 1 B2 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L ^/RE/ (absolute: no preceding range)' '
-	check_count -L^/dog/,+2 A 1 B2 1
+	check_count -L^/\;*dog/,+2 A 1 B2 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'blame -L ^/RE/ (absolute: not found)' '
diff --git a/t/t0008-ignores.sh b/t/t0008-ignores.sh
index b4d98e602f..d14a549a8f 100755
--- a/t/t0008-ignores.sh
+++ b/t/t0008-ignores.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,13 @@ test_description=check-ignore
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 init_vars () {
-	global_excludes="$(pwd)/global-excludes"
+	# On Windows, avoid using "C:" in the global-excludes paths.
+	if test_have_prereq MINGW
+	then
+		global_excludes="global-excludes"
+	else
+		global_excludes="$(pwd)/global-excludes"
+	fi
 }
 
 enable_global_excludes () {
diff --git a/t/t0081-line-buffer.sh b/t/t0081-line-buffer.sh
index bd83ed371a..25dba008f3 100755
--- a/t/t0081-line-buffer.sh
+++ b/t/t0081-line-buffer.sh
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ test_expect_success '0-length read, send along greeting' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'read from file descriptor' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'read from file descriptor' '
 	rm -f input &&
 	echo hello >expect &&
 	echo hello >input &&
diff --git a/t/t0110-urlmatch-normalization.sh b/t/t0110-urlmatch-normalization.sh
index 8d6096d4d1..bcbb825034 100755
--- a/t/t0110-urlmatch-normalization.sh
+++ b/t/t0110-urlmatch-normalization.sh
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ test_expect_success 'url general escapes' '
 	test "$(test-urlmatch-normalization -p "X://W?'\!'")" = "x://w/?'\!'"
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'url high-bit escapes' '
+test_expect_success !MINGW 'url high-bit escapes' '
 	test "$(test-urlmatch-normalization -p "$(cat "$tu-1")")" = "x://q/%01%02%03%04%05%06%07%08%0E%0F%10%11%12" &&
 	test "$(test-urlmatch-normalization -p "$(cat "$tu-2")")" = "x://q/%13%14%15%16%17%18%19%1B%1C%1D%1E%1F%7F" &&
 	test "$(test-urlmatch-normalization -p "$(cat "$tu-3")")" = "x://q/%80%81%82%83%84%85%86%87%88%89%8A%8B%8C%8D%8E%8F" &&
diff --git a/t/t1050-large.sh b/t/t1050-large.sh
index fd10528009..76ca151578 100755
--- a/t/t1050-large.sh
+++ b/t/t1050-large.sh
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	# clone does not allow us to pass core.bigfilethreshold to
 	# new repos, so set core.bigfilethreshold globally
 	git config --global core.bigfilethreshold 200k &&
-	echo X | dd of=large1 bs=1k seek=2000 &&
-	echo X | dd of=large2 bs=1k seek=2000 &&
-	echo X | dd of=large3 bs=1k seek=2000 &&
-	echo Y | dd of=huge bs=1k seek=2500 &&
+	perl -e "print \"\\0\" x 2048000; print \"X\\n\";" > large1 &&
+	perl -e "print \"\\0\" x 2048000; print \"X\\n\";" > large2 &&
+	perl -e "print \"\\0\" x 2048000; print \"X\\n\";" > large3 &&
+	perl -e "print \"\\0\" x 2560000; print \"Y\\n\";" > huge &&
 	GIT_ALLOC_LIMIT=1500 &&
 	export GIT_ALLOC_LIMIT
 '
diff --git a/t/t1501-worktree.sh b/t/t1501-worktree.sh
index 8f36aa9fc4..06982bddb7 100755
--- a/t/t1501-worktree.sh
+++ b/t/t1501-worktree.sh
@@ -339,6 +339,10 @@ test_expect_success 'make_relative_path handles double slashes in GIT_DIR' '
 	git --git-dir="$(pwd)//repo.git" --work-tree="$(pwd)" add dummy_file
 '
 
+test_have_prereq MINGW &&
+# make sure to test DOS path on Windows
+TRASH_DIRECTORY="$(cd "$TRASH_DIRECTORY" && pwd)"
+
 test_expect_success 'relative $GIT_WORK_TREE and git subprocesses' '
 	GIT_DIR=repo.git GIT_WORK_TREE=repo.git/work \
 	test-subprocess --setup-work-tree rev-parse --show-toplevel >actual &&
diff --git a/t/t3102-ls-tree-wildcards.sh b/t/t3102-ls-tree-wildcards.sh
index c286854485..766af3de9b 100755
--- a/t/t3102-ls-tree-wildcards.sh
+++ b/t/t3102-ls-tree-wildcards.sh
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@ test_description='ls-tree with(out) globs'
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
-test_expect_success 'setup' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'setup' '
 	mkdir a aa "a[a]" &&
 	touch a/one aa/two "a[a]/three" &&
 	git add a/one aa/two "a[a]/three" &&
 	git commit -m test
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'ls-tree a[a] matches literally' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'ls-tree a* matches literally' '
 	cat >expected <<EOF &&
 100644 blob e69de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391	a[a]/three
 EOF
diff --git a/t/t3901-i18n-patch.sh b/t/t3901-i18n-patch.sh
index 31a5770b34..55c8a2f576 100755
--- a/t/t3901-i18n-patch.sh
+++ b/t/t3901-i18n-patch.sh
@@ -54,10 +54,13 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	git add yours &&
 	git commit -s -m "Second on side" &&
 
-	# the second one on the side branch is ISO-8859-1
-	git config i18n.commitencoding ISO8859-1 &&
-	# use author and committer name in ISO-8859-1 to match it.
-	. "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/t3901-8859-1.txt &&
+	if test_have_prereq NOT_MINGW
+	then
+		# the second one on the side branch is ISO-8859-1
+		git config i18n.commitencoding ISO8859-1 &&
+		# use author and committer name in ISO-8859-1 to match it.
+		. "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/t3901-8859-1.txt
+	fi &&
 	test_tick &&
 	echo Yet another >theirs &&
 	git add theirs &&
@@ -119,7 +122,7 @@ test_expect_success 'rebase (U/L)' '
 	check_encoding 2
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'rebase (L/L)' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'rebase (L/L)' '
 	# In this test we want ISO-8859-1 encoded commits as the result
 	git config i18n.commitencoding ISO8859-1 &&
 	git config i18n.logoutputencoding ISO8859-1 &&
@@ -131,7 +134,7 @@ test_expect_success 'rebase (L/L)' '
 	check_encoding 2 8859
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'rebase (L/U)' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'rebase (L/U)' '
 	# This is pathological -- use UTF-8 as intermediate form
 	# to get ISO-8859-1 results.
 	git config i18n.commitencoding ISO8859-1 &&
@@ -159,7 +162,7 @@ test_expect_success 'cherry-pick(U/U)' '
 	check_encoding 3
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'cherry-pick(L/L)' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'cherry-pick(L/L)' '
 	# Both the commitencoding and logoutputencoding is set to ISO-8859-1
 
 	git config i18n.commitencoding ISO8859-1 &&
@@ -189,7 +192,7 @@ test_expect_success 'cherry-pick(U/L)' '
 	check_encoding 3
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'cherry-pick(L/U)' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'cherry-pick(L/U)' '
 	# Again, the commitencoding is set to ISO-8859-1 but
 	# logoutputencoding is set to UTF-8.
 
diff --git a/t/t4041-diff-submodule-option.sh b/t/t4041-diff-submodule-option.sh
index 1751c83307..01e1f9be77 100755
--- a/t/t4041-diff-submodule-option.sh
+++ b/t/t4041-diff-submodule-option.sh
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@ add_file () {
 			echo "$name" >"$name" &&
 			git add "$name" &&
 			test_tick &&
-			msg_added_iso88591=$(echo "Add $name ($added $name)" | iconv -f utf-8 -t iso8859-1) &&
-			git -c 'i18n.commitEncoding=iso8859-1' commit -m "$msg_added_iso88591"
+			# "git commit -m" would break MinGW, as Windows refuse to pass
+			# iso8859-1 encoded parameter to git.
+			echo "Add $name ($added $name)" | iconv -f utf-8 -t iso8859-1 |
+			git -c 'i18n.commitEncoding=iso8859-1' commit -F -
 		done >/dev/null &&
 		git rev-parse --short --verify HEAD
 	)
diff --git a/t/t4201-shortlog.sh b/t/t4201-shortlog.sh
index 42866992cf..a1db6fb4ae 100755
--- a/t/t4201-shortlog.sh
+++ b/t/t4201-shortlog.sh
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ test_expect_success 'output from user-defined format is re-wrapped' '
 	test_cmp expect log.predictable
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'shortlog wrapping' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'shortlog wrapping' '
 	cat >expect <<\EOF &&
 A U Thor (5):
       Test
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ EOF
 	test_cmp expect out
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'shortlog from non-git directory' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'shortlog from non-git directory' '
 	git log HEAD >log &&
 	GIT_DIR=non-existing git shortlog -w <log >out &&
 	test_cmp expect out
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ $DSCHO (2):
 
 EOF
 
-test_expect_success 'shortlog encoding' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'shortlog encoding' '
 	git reset --hard "$commit" &&
 	git config --unset i18n.commitencoding &&
 	echo 2 > a1 &&
diff --git a/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh b/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
index 2a6278bb33..9d3f92456a 100755
--- a/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
+++ b/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ test_expect_success 'set up basic repos' '
 	git add foo &&
 	test_tick &&
 	git config i18n.commitEncoding iso8859-1 &&
-	git commit -m "$(commit_msg iso8859-1)" &&
+	commit_msg iso8859-1 | git commit -F - &&
 	git add bar &&
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m "add bar" &&
diff --git a/t/t4210-log-i18n.sh b/t/t4210-log-i18n.sh
index 52a74729ba..9110404e55 100755
--- a/t/t4210-log-i18n.sh
+++ b/t/t4210-log-i18n.sh
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ test_expect_success 'log --grep searches in log output encoding (utf8)' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'log --grep searches in log output encoding (latin1)' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'log --grep searches in log output encoding (latin1)' '
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
 	latin1
 	utf8
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ test_expect_success 'log --grep searches in log output encoding (latin1)' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'log --grep does not find non-reencoded values (utf8)' '
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW 'log --grep does not find non-reencoded values (utf8)' '
 	>expect &&
 	git log --encoding=utf8 --format=%s --grep=$latin1_e >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
diff --git a/t/t5504-fetch-receive-strict.sh b/t/t5504-fetch-receive-strict.sh
index 69ee13c8be..bb8bc94bfc 100755
--- a/t/t5504-fetch-receive-strict.sh
+++ b/t/t5504-fetch-receive-strict.sh
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ test_expect_success 'push with receive.fsckobjects' '
 		git config transfer.fsckobjects false
 	) &&
 	test_must_fail git push --porcelain dst master:refs/heads/test >act &&
-	test_cmp exp act
+	test_cmp exp act || test ! -s act
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'push with transfer.fsckobjects' '
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ test_expect_success 'push with transfer.fsckobjects' '
 		git config transfer.fsckobjects true
 	) &&
 	test_must_fail git push --porcelain dst master:refs/heads/test >act &&
-	test_cmp exp act
+	test_cmp exp act || test ! -s act
 '
 
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh b/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh
index 98744038ec..8d27ff2180 100755
--- a/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh
+++ b/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 	: >foo &&
 	git add foo &&
 	git config i18n.commitEncoding iso8859-1 &&
-	git commit -m "$added_iso88591" &&
+	echo "$added_iso88591" | git commit -F - &&
 	head1=$(git rev-parse --verify HEAD) &&
 	head1_short=$(git rev-parse --verify --short $head1) &&
 	tree1=$(git rev-parse --verify HEAD:) &&
 	tree1_short=$(git rev-parse --verify --short $tree1) &&
 	echo "$changed" > foo &&
-	git commit -a -m "$changed_iso88591" &&
+	echo "$changed_iso88591" | git commit -a -F - &&
 	head2=$(git rev-parse --verify HEAD) &&
 	head2_short=$(git rev-parse --verify --short $head2) &&
 	tree2=$(git rev-parse --verify HEAD:) &&
diff --git a/t/t7102-reset.sh b/t/t7102-reset.sh
index ee117e2e72..215b12b770 100755
--- a/t/t7102-reset.sh
+++ b/t/t7102-reset.sh
@@ -41,7 +41,9 @@ test_expect_success 'creating initial files and commits' '
 
 	echo "1st line 2nd file" >secondfile &&
 	echo "2nd line 2nd file" >>secondfile &&
-	git -c "i18n.commitEncoding=iso8859-1" commit -a -m "$(commit_msg iso8859-1)" &&
+	# "git commit -m" would break MinGW, as Windows refuse to pass
+	# iso8859-1 encoded parameter to git.
+	commit_msg iso8859-1 | git -c "i18n.commitEncoding=iso8859-1" commit -a -F - &&
 	head5=$(git rev-parse --verify HEAD)
 '
 # git log --pretty=oneline # to see those SHA1 involved
@@ -331,7 +333,9 @@ test_expect_success 'redoing the last two commits should succeed' '
 
 	echo "1st line 2nd file" >secondfile &&
 	echo "2nd line 2nd file" >>secondfile &&
-	git -c "i18n.commitEncoding=iso8859-1" commit -a -m "$(commit_msg iso8859-1)" &&
+	# "git commit -m" would break MinGW, as Windows refuse to pass
+	# iso8859-1 encoded parameter to git.
+	commit_msg iso8859-1 | git -c "i18n.commitEncoding=iso8859-1" commit -a -F - &&
 	check_changes $head5
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t8005-blame-i18n.sh b/t/t8005-blame-i18n.sh
index cb390559f9..a6e73d0635 100755
--- a/t/t8005-blame-i18n.sh
+++ b/t/t8005-blame-i18n.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ author $SJIS_NAME
 summary $SJIS_MSG
 EOF
 
-test_expect_success \
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW \
 	'blame respects i18n.commitencoding' '
 	git blame --incremental file | \
 		egrep "^(author|summary) " > actual &&
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ author $EUC_JAPAN_NAME
 summary $EUC_JAPAN_MSG
 EOF
 
-test_expect_success \
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW \
 	'blame respects i18n.logoutputencoding' '
 	git config i18n.logoutputencoding eucJP &&
 	git blame --incremental file | \
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ author $UTF8_NAME
 summary $UTF8_MSG
 EOF
 
-test_expect_success \
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW \
 	'blame respects --encoding=UTF-8' '
 	git blame --incremental --encoding=UTF-8 file | \
 		egrep "^(author|summary) " > actual &&
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ author $UTF8_NAME
 summary $UTF8_MSG
 EOF
 
-test_expect_success \
+test_expect_success NOT_MINGW \
 	'blame respects --encoding=none' '
 	git blame --incremental --encoding=none file | \
 		egrep "^(author|summary) " > actual &&
diff --git a/t/t9350-fast-export.sh b/t/t9350-fast-export.sh
index 2312dec8f0..fe5181dbf8 100755
--- a/t/t9350-fast-export.sh
+++ b/t/t9350-fast-export.sh
@@ -504,4 +504,15 @@ test_expect_success 'refs are updated even if no commits need to be exported' '
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+cat > expected << EOF
+reset refs/heads/master
+from $(git rev-parse master)
+
+EOF
+
+test_expect_failure 'refs are updated even if no commits need to be exported' '
+	git fast-export master..master > actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t9902-completion.sh b/t/t9902-completion.sh
index 2d4beb5e50..e3319c8592 100755
--- a/t/t9902-completion.sh
+++ b/t/t9902-completion.sh
@@ -212,9 +212,18 @@ test_expect_success '__gitdir - non-existing $GIT_DIR' '
 	)
 '
 
+function pwd_P_W () {
+	if test_have_prereq MINGW
+	then
+		pwd -W
+	else
+		pwd -P
+	fi
+}
+
 test_expect_success '__gitdir - gitfile in cwd' '
-	echo "$(pwd -P)/otherrepo/.git" >expected &&
-	echo "gitdir: $TRASH_DIRECTORY/otherrepo/.git" >subdir/.git &&
+	echo "$(pwd_P_W)/otherrepo/.git" >expected &&
+	echo "gitdir: $(pwd_P_W)/otherrepo/.git" >subdir/.git &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -f subdir/.git" &&
 	(
 		cd subdir &&
@@ -224,8 +233,8 @@ test_expect_success '__gitdir - gitfile in cwd' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success '__gitdir - gitfile in parent' '
-	echo "$(pwd -P)/otherrepo/.git" >expected &&
-	echo "gitdir: $TRASH_DIRECTORY/otherrepo/.git" >subdir/.git &&
+	echo "$(pwd_P_W)/otherrepo/.git" >expected &&
+	echo "gitdir: $(pwd_P_W)/otherrepo/.git" >subdir/.git &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -f subdir/.git" &&
 	(
 		cd subdir/subsubdir &&
diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index f6e7bfee35..2d63a49a42 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with this program.  If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ .
 
+# for git on windows so stdin will not be misdetected as attached to a
+# terminal
+exec < /dev/null
+
 # Keep the original TERM for say_color
 ORIGINAL_TERM=$TERM