diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index ca3ae4cb06..6632192690 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -322,3 +322,12 @@ int mingw_socket(int domain, int type, int protocol)
 	}
 	return s;
 }
+
+#undef exit
+int git_exit(int code)
+{
+	if (code < 0)
+		exit(1);
+	exit(code);
+}
+
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index ddafec997f..9e075b715c 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -472,6 +472,9 @@ int mingw_socket(int domain, int type, int protocol);
 extern void quote_argv(const char **dst, const char **src);
 extern const char *parse_interpreter(const char *cmd);
 
+extern __attribute__((noreturn)) int git_exit(int code);
+#define exit git_exit
+
 #endif /* __MINGW32__ */
 
 #endif