diff --git a/builtin/config.c b/builtin/config.c
index 0315ad76f8..fc2fb38117 100644
--- a/builtin/config.c
+++ b/builtin/config.c
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ static int get_value(const char *key_, const char *regex_)
 
 	local = config_exclusive_filename;
 	if (!local) {
-		const char *home = getenv("HOME");
+		const char *home = get_home_directory();
 		local = repo_config = git_pathdup("config");
 		if (home)
 			global = xstrdup(mkpath("%s/.gitconfig", home));
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ int cmd_config(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	}
 
 	if (use_global_config) {
-		char *home = getenv("HOME");
+		char *home = get_home_directory();
 		if (home) {
 			char *user_config = xstrdup(mkpath("%s/.gitconfig", home));
 			config_exclusive_filename = user_config;
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 3d7ce02e85..68d5c694bd 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1828,3 +1828,21 @@ pid_t waitpid(pid_t pid, int *status, unsigned options)
 	errno = EINVAL;
 	return -1;
 }
+
+const char *get_windows_home_directory()
+{
+	static const char *home_directory = NULL;
+	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	if (home_directory)
+		return home_directory;
+
+	home_directory = getenv("HOME");
+	if (home_directory && *home_directory)
+		return home_directory;
+
+	strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s/%s", getenv("HOMEDRIVE"), getenv("HOMEPATH"));
+	home_directory = strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
+
+	return home_directory;
+}
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 8611989783..63064953da 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -353,3 +353,6 @@ static int mingw_main(c,v)
  * Used by Pthread API implementation for Windows
  */
 extern int err_win_to_posix(DWORD winerr);
+
+extern const char *get_windows_home_directory();
+#define get_home_directory() get_windows_home_directory()
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index a97d0d41c6..8c61ad3b8c 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -872,7 +872,7 @@ int git_config_early(config_fn_t fn, void *data, const char *repo_config)
 		found += 1;
 	}
 
-	home = getenv("HOME");
+	home = get_home_directory();
 	if (home) {
 		char *user_config = xstrdup(mkpath("%s/.gitconfig", home));
 		if (!access(user_config, R_OK)) {
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 1adbb55f33..aec3f843eb 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -579,4 +579,8 @@ int remove_or_warn(unsigned int mode, const char *path);
 #define mark_as_git_dir(x) /* noop */
 #endif
 
+#ifndef get_home_directory
+#define get_home_directory() getenv("HOME")
+#endif
+
 #endif
diff --git a/path.c b/path.c
index b6f71d1086..9e5bf53ea8 100644
--- a/path.c
+++ b/path.c
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ char *expand_user_path(const char *path)
 		const char *username = path + 1;
 		size_t username_len = first_slash - username;
 		if (username_len == 0) {
-			const char *home = getenv("HOME");
+			const char *home = get_home_directory();
 			if (!home)
 				goto return_null;
 			strbuf_add(&user_path, home, strlen(home));