diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 8258094799..37ee0cc5b2 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -233,14 +233,42 @@ int mingw_unlink(const char *pathname)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static int is_dir_empty(const char *path)
+{
+	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+	WIN32_FIND_DATAA findbuf;
+	HANDLE handle;
+
+	strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s\\*", path);
+	handle = FindFirstFileA(buf.buf, &findbuf);
+	if (handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
+		strbuf_release(&buf);
+		return GetLastError() == ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES;
+	}
+
+	while (!strcmp(findbuf.cFileName, ".") ||
+			!strcmp(findbuf.cFileName, ".."))
+		if (!FindNextFile(handle, &findbuf)) {
+			strbuf_release(&buf);
+			return GetLastError() == ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES;
+		}
+	FindClose(handle);
+	strbuf_release(&buf);
+	return 0;
+}
+
 #undef rmdir
 int mingw_rmdir(const char *pathname)
 {
-    int ret, tries = 0;
+	int ret, tries = 0;
 
 	while ((ret = rmdir(pathname)) == -1 && tries < ARRAY_SIZE(delay)) {
 		if (errno != EACCES)
 			break;
+		if (!is_dir_empty(pathname)) {
+			errno = ENOTEMPTY;
+			break;
+		}
 		/*
 		 * We assume that some other process had the source or
 		 * destination file open at the wrong moment and retry.