diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index b7f57fdc2e..e87d0a350b 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -381,6 +381,9 @@ static inline int is_dev_null(const char *str)
 	return !strcmp(str, "/dev/null");
 }
 const char *make_absolute_path(const char *path);
+/* Convert slashes in place. On Windows to backslashes. */
+char *make_native_separator(char *path);
+const char *git_install_prefix();
 
 /* Read and unpack a sha1 file into memory, write memory to a sha1 file */
 extern int sha1_object_info(const unsigned char *, unsigned long *);
diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
index 1c0946c649..e59b856d9f 100644
--- a/help.c
+++ b/help.c
@@ -165,34 +165,6 @@ static void list_common_cmds_help(void)
 	puts("(use 'git help -a' to get a list of all installed git commands)");
 }
 
-#ifdef __MINGW32__
-char* get_install_dir()
-{
-	static char* pgm = 0;
-	if (pgm) {
-		return pgm;
-	} else {
-		char* p;
-		int pgm_len = strlen(_pgmptr);
-		pgm = xmalloc(pgm_len + 1);
-		strcpy(pgm, _pgmptr);
-		p = strrchr(pgm, '\\'); /* <gitroot>\bin\ <- p */
-		if (p) {
-			*p = '\0';
-			p = strrchr(pgm, '\\'); /* <gitroot>\ <- p */
-			if (p) {
-				*p = '\0';
-				return pgm;
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	/* Note, according to the msdn documentation we have a full path
-	   if started through the shell and this error should never happen. */
-	fprintf(stderr, "Fatal Error: failed to locate installation root.\n");
-	exit(1);
-}
-#endif
-
 static void show_man_page(const char *git_cmd)
 {
 	const char *page;
@@ -210,20 +182,11 @@ static void show_man_page(const char *git_cmd)
 
 #ifdef __MINGW32__
 	{
-		char* install_dir = get_install_dir();
-		int install_dir_len = strlen(install_dir);
-		char* html_dir = "\\doc\\git\\html\\";
-		int html_dir_len = strlen(html_dir);
-		char* suffix = ".html";
-		int suffix_len = strlen(suffix);
-		int page_len = strlen(page);
-		int htmlpath_len = install_dir_len + html_dir_len + page_len + suffix_len;
-		char* htmlpath = xmalloc(htmlpath_len + 1);
-		strcpy (htmlpath, install_dir);
-		strcpy (htmlpath + install_dir_len, html_dir);
-		strcpy (htmlpath + install_dir_len + html_dir_len, page);
-		strcpy (htmlpath + install_dir_len + html_dir_len + page_len, suffix);
-		htmlpath[htmlpath_len] = 0;
+		const char *htmlpath = make_native_separator(
+		                         mkpath("%s/doc/git/html/%s.html"
+		                                  , git_install_prefix()
+		                                  , page)
+		                       );
 		printf("Launching default browser to display HTML help ...\n");
 		ShellExecute(NULL, "open", htmlpath, NULL, NULL, 0);
 	}
diff --git a/path.c b/path.c
index 7a5ac5b067..e42b234fa1 100644
--- a/path.c
+++ b/path.c
@@ -370,3 +370,51 @@ const char *make_absolute_path(const char *path)
 
 	return buf;
 }
+
+const char* git_install_prefix()
+{
+#ifdef __MINGW32__
+	static char* prefix;
+
+	if (prefix) {
+		return prefix;
+	}
+
+	char* p;
+	int pgm_len = strlen(_pgmptr);
+	prefix = xmalloc(pgm_len + 1);
+	strcpy(prefix, _pgmptr);
+	p = strrchr(prefix, '\\'); /* <gitroot>\bin\ <- p */
+	if (p) {
+		*p = '\0';
+		p = strrchr(prefix, '\\'); /* <gitroot>\ <- p */
+		if (p) {
+			*p = '\0';
+			for (p = prefix; *p; p++)
+				if (*p == '\\')
+					*p = '/';
+			return prefix;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* Note, according to the msdn documentation we have a full path
+	   if started through the shell and this error should never happen. */
+	fprintf(stderr, "Fatal Error: failed to locate installation root.\n");
+	exit(1);
+#else
+	return "";
+#endif
+}
+
+char *make_native_separator(char* path) {
+#ifdef __MINGW32__
+	char* c;
+	for (c = path; *c; c++) {
+		if (*c == '/')
+			*c = '\\';
+	}
+	return path;
+#else
+	return path;
+#endif
+}