diff --git a/path.c b/path.c
index efcedafba6..fafbc47db4 100644
--- a/path.c
+++ b/path.c
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include "dir.h"
 #include "worktree.h"
 #include "submodule-config.h"
+#include "exec_cmd.h"
 
 static int get_st_mode_bits(const char *path, int *mode)
 {
@@ -646,6 +647,10 @@ char *expand_user_path(const char *path)
 
 	if (path == NULL)
 		goto return_null;
+#ifdef __MINGW32__
+	if (path[0] == '/')
+		return system_path(path + 1);
+#endif
 	if (path[0] == '~') {
 		const char *first_slash = strchrnul(path, '/');
 		const char *username = path + 1;