diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 4e8402a941..e1ac77d0ed 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -119,6 +119,32 @@ static int err_win_to_posix(DWORD winerr)
 	return error;
 }
 
+static int make_hidden(const char *path)
+{
+	DWORD attribs = GetFileAttributes(path);
+	if (SetFileAttributes(path, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN | attribs))
+		return 0;
+	errno = err_win_to_posix(GetLastError());
+	return -1;
+}
+
+#undef mkdir
+int mingw_mkdir(const char *path, int mode)
+{
+	int ret = mkdir(path);
+	if (!ret) {
+		/*
+		 * In Windows a file or dir starting with a dot is not
+		 * automatically hidden. So lets mark it as hidden when
+		 * such a directory is created.
+		 */
+		const char *start = basename((char*)path);
+		if (*start == '.')
+			return make_hidden(path);
+	}
+	return ret;
+}
+
 #undef open
 int mingw_open (const char *filename, int oflags, ...)
 {
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 2779bbb1a7..0091ba7f3c 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -98,12 +98,6 @@ static inline int fcntl(int fd, int cmd, long arg)
  * simple adaptors
  */
 
-static inline int mingw_mkdir(const char *path, int mode)
-{
-	return mkdir(path);
-}
-#define mkdir mingw_mkdir
-
 static inline int mingw_unlink(const char *pathname)
 {
 	/* read-only files cannot be removed */
@@ -143,6 +137,9 @@ int readlink(const char *path, char *buf, size_t bufsiz);
  * replacements of existing functions
  */
 
+int mingw_mkdir(const char *path, int mode);
+#define mkdir mingw_mkdir
+
 int mingw_open (const char *filename, int oflags, ...);
 #define open mingw_open