diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 86c3fe7bdc..6025ac5eaf 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1233,7 +1233,7 @@ static int try_shell_exec(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 	return pid;
 }
 
-void mingw_execv(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
+int mingw_execv(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 {
 	/* check if git_command is a shell script */
 	if (!try_shell_exec(cmd, argv)) {
@@ -1241,11 +1241,12 @@ void mingw_execv(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 
 		pid = mingw_spawnv(cmd, (const char **)argv, 0);
 		if (pid < 0)
-			return;
+			return -1;
 		if (waitpid(pid, &status, 0) < 0)
 			status = 255;
 		exit(status);
 	}
+	return -1;
 }
 
 int mingw_execvp(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)