diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 655cd9a521..bfd7d2e5b4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -756,6 +756,7 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	NO_PERL_MAKEMAKER = YesPlease
 	NO_R_TO_GCC_LINKER = YesPlease
 	INTERNAL_QSORT = YesPlease
+	RUNTIME_PREFIX = YesPlease
 	NO_POSIX_ONLY_PROGRAMS = YesPlease
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/fnmatch
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DSNPRINTF_SIZE_CORR=1
@@ -764,10 +765,7 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	EXTLIBS += -lws2_32
 	X = .exe
 	NOEXECTEMPL = .noexec
-	gitexecdir = ../libexec/git-core
-	template_dir = ../share/git-core/templates/
-	ETC_GITCONFIG = ../etc/gitconfig
-	htmldir=../doc/git/html/
+	htmldir=/doc/git/html/
 endif
 ifneq (,$(findstring arm,$(uname_M)))
 	ARM_SHA1 = YesPlease
@@ -992,6 +990,9 @@ ifdef INTERNAL_QSORT
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DINTERNAL_QSORT
 	COMPAT_OBJS += compat/qsort.o
 endif
+ifdef RUNTIME_PREFIX
+	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DRUNTIME_PREFIX
+endif
 
 ifdef THREADED_DELTA_SEARCH
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DTHREADED_DELTA_SEARCH
@@ -1053,6 +1054,12 @@ htmldir_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(htmldir))
 prefix_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(prefix))
 sysconfdir_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(sysconfdir))
 
+ETC_GITCONFIG_SQ_C = $(subst /,\057,$(ETC_GITCONFIG_SQ))
+bindir_SQ_C = $(subst /,\057,$(bindir_SQ))
+gitexecdir_SQ_C = $(subst /,\057,$(gitexecdir_SQ))
+htmldir_SQ_C = $(subst /,\057,$(htmldir_SQ))
+template_dir_SQ_C = $(subst /,\057,$(template_dir_SQ))
+
 SHELL_PATH_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(SHELL_PATH))
 PERL_PATH_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(PERL_PATH))
 TCLTK_PATH_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(TCLTK_PATH))
@@ -1104,7 +1111,7 @@ git$X: git.o $(BUILTIN_OBJS) $(GITLIBS)
 
 help.o: help.c common-cmds.h GIT-CFLAGS
 	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) \
-		'-DGIT_HTML_PATH="$(htmldir_SQ)"' \
+		'-DGIT_HTML_PATH="$(htmldir_SQ_C)"' \
 		'-DGIT_MAN_PATH="$(mandir_SQ)"' \
 		'-DGIT_INFO_PATH="$(infodir_SQ)"' $<
 
@@ -1212,12 +1219,12 @@ git.o git.spec \
 	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) $<
 
 exec_cmd.o: exec_cmd.c GIT-CFLAGS
-	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) '-DGIT_EXEC_PATH="$(gitexecdir_SQ)"' $<
+	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) '-DGIT_EXEC_PATH="$(gitexecdir_SQ_C)"' -DBINDIR='"$(bindir_SQ_C)"' $<
 builtin-init-db.o: builtin-init-db.c GIT-CFLAGS
-	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) -DDEFAULT_GIT_TEMPLATE_DIR='"$(template_dir_SQ)"' $<
+	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) -DDEFAULT_GIT_TEMPLATE_DIR='"$(template_dir_SQ_C)"' $<
 
 config.o: config.c GIT-CFLAGS
-	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) -DETC_GITCONFIG='"$(ETC_GITCONFIG_SQ)"' $<
+	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) -DETC_GITCONFIG='"$(ETC_GITCONFIG_SQ_C)"' $<
 
 http.o: http.c GIT-CFLAGS
 	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) -DGIT_USER_AGENT='"git/$(GIT_VERSION)"' $<
diff --git a/daemon.c b/daemon.c
index 8dcde73200..172854e74c 100644
--- a/daemon.c
+++ b/daemon.c
@@ -1055,6 +1055,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	gid_t gid = 0;
 	int i;
 
+	if (argv[0] && *argv[0])
+		git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+
 	/* Without this we cannot rely on waitpid() to tell
 	 * what happened to our children.
 	 */
diff --git a/exec_cmd.c b/exec_cmd.c
index ce6741eb68..2a86670baa 100644
--- a/exec_cmd.c
+++ b/exec_cmd.c
@@ -9,17 +9,65 @@ static const char *argv0_path;
 
 const char *system_path(const char *path)
 {
-	if (!is_absolute_path(path) && argv0_path) {
-		struct strbuf d = STRBUF_INIT;
-		strbuf_addf(&d, "%s/%s", argv0_path, path);
-		path = strbuf_detach(&d, NULL);
+#ifdef RUNTIME_PREFIX
+	static const char *prefix;
+
+	assert(argv0_path);
+	assert(is_absolute_path(argv0_path));
+
+	if (!prefix) {
+		const char *strip[] = {
+			GIT_EXEC_PATH,
+			BINDIR,
+			0
+		};
+		const char **s;
+
+		for (s = strip; *s; s++) {
+			const char *sargv = argv0_path + strlen(argv0_path);
+			const char *ss = *s + strlen(*s);
+			while (argv0_path < sargv && *s < ss
+				&& (*sargv == *ss ||
+				    (is_dir_sep(*sargv) && is_dir_sep(*ss)))) {
+				sargv--;
+				ss--;
+			}
+			if (*s == ss) {
+				struct strbuf d = STRBUF_INIT;
+				strbuf_add(&d, argv0_path, sargv - argv0_path);
+				prefix = strbuf_detach(&d, NULL);
+				break;
+			}
+		}
 	}
+
+	if (!prefix) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "RUNTIME_PREFIX requested for path '%s', "
+				"but prefix computation failed.\n", path);
+		return path;
+	}
+
+	struct strbuf d = STRBUF_INIT;
+	strbuf_addf(&d, "%s/%s", prefix, path);
+	path = strbuf_detach(&d, NULL);
+#endif
 	return path;
 }
 
-void git_set_argv0_path(const char *path)
+const char *git_extract_argv0_path(const char *argv0)
 {
-	argv0_path = path;
+	const char *slash = argv0 + strlen(argv0);
+
+	do
+		--slash;
+	while (slash >= argv0 && !is_dir_sep(*slash));
+
+	if (slash >= argv0) {
+		argv0_path = xstrndup(argv0, slash - argv0);
+		return slash + 1;
+	}
+
+	return argv0;
 }
 
 void git_set_argv_exec_path(const char *exec_path)
@@ -63,9 +111,7 @@ void setup_path(void)
 
 	strbuf_init(&new_path, 0);
 
-	add_path(&new_path, argv_exec_path);
-	add_path(&new_path, getenv(EXEC_PATH_ENVIRONMENT));
-	add_path(&new_path, system_path(GIT_EXEC_PATH));
+	add_path(&new_path, git_exec_path());
 	add_path(&new_path, argv0_path);
 
 	if (old_path)
diff --git a/exec_cmd.h b/exec_cmd.h
index 594f961387..392e9032c3 100644
--- a/exec_cmd.h
+++ b/exec_cmd.h
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #define GIT_EXEC_CMD_H
 
 extern void git_set_argv_exec_path(const char *exec_path);
-extern void git_set_argv0_path(const char *path);
+extern const char* git_extract_argv0_path(const char *path);
 extern const char* git_exec_path(void);
 extern void setup_path(void);
 extern const char **prepare_git_cmd(const char **argv);
diff --git a/fast-import.c b/fast-import.c
index d85b3a561f..239309f96d 100644
--- a/fast-import.c
+++ b/fast-import.c
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ Format of STDIN stream:
 #include "refs.h"
 #include "csum-file.h"
 #include "quote.h"
+#include "exec_cmd.h"
 
 #define PACK_ID_BITS 16
 #define MAX_PACK_ID ((1<<PACK_ID_BITS)-1)
@@ -2395,6 +2396,9 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
 	unsigned int i, show_stats = 1;
 
+	if (argv[0] && *argv[0])
+		git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+
 	setup_git_directory();
 	git_config(git_pack_config, NULL);
 	if (!pack_compression_seen && core_compression_seen)
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index fdb0f71019..cfcedc20dc 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -416,23 +416,13 @@ static void execv_dashed_external(const char **argv)
 
 int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
-	const char *cmd = argv[0] && *argv[0] ? argv[0] : "git-help";
-	char *slash = (char *)cmd + strlen(cmd);
+	const char *cmd;
 	int done_alias = 0;
 
-	/*
-	 * Take the basename of argv[0] as the command
-	 * name, and the dirname as the default exec_path
-	 * if we don't have anything better.
-	 */
-	do
-		--slash;
-	while (cmd <= slash && !is_dir_sep(*slash));
-	if (cmd <= slash) {
-		*slash++ = 0;
-		git_set_argv0_path(cmd);
-		cmd = slash;
-	}
+	if (argv[0] && *argv[0])
+		cmd = git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+	else
+		cmd = "git-help";
 
 	/*
 	 * "git-xxxx" is the same as "git xxxx", but we obviously:
diff --git a/hash-object.c b/hash-object.c
index 46c06a9552..0f77a46b21 100644
--- a/hash-object.c
+++ b/hash-object.c
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "blob.h"
 #include "quote.h"
+#include "exec_cmd.h"
 
 static void hash_object(const char *path, enum object_type type, int write_object)
 {
@@ -65,6 +66,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int hashstdin = 0;
 	int stdin_paths = 0;
 
+	if (argv[0] && *argv[0])
+		git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+
 	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
 
 	for (i = 1 ; i < argc; i++) {
diff --git a/index-pack.c b/index-pack.c
index a6e91fe3ba..c6ac0e6ce7 100644
--- a/index-pack.c
+++ b/index-pack.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "tree.h"
 #include "progress.h"
 #include "fsck.h"
+#include "exec_cmd.h"
 
 static const char index_pack_usage[] =
 "git index-pack [-v] [-o <index-file>] [{ ---keep | --keep=<msg> }] [--strict] { <pack-file> | --stdin [--fix-thin] [<pack-file>] }";
@@ -877,6 +878,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	unsigned char pack_sha1[20];
 	int nongit = 0;
 
+	if (argv[0] && *argv[0])
+		git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+
 	setup_git_directory_gently(&nongit);
 	git_config(git_index_pack_config, NULL);
 
diff --git a/receive-pack.c b/receive-pack.c
index d44c19e6b5..3699b166c7 100644
--- a/receive-pack.c
+++ b/receive-pack.c
@@ -467,6 +467,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int i;
 	char *dir = NULL;
 
+	if (argv[0] && *argv[0])
+		git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+
 	argv++;
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
 		char *arg = *argv++;
diff --git a/unpack-file.c b/unpack-file.c
index bcdc8bbb3b..f8bfda7d33 100644
--- a/unpack-file.c
+++ b/unpack-file.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "blob.h"
+#include "exec_cmd.h"
 
 static char *create_temp_file(unsigned char *sha1)
 {
@@ -25,6 +26,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	unsigned char sha1[20];
 
+	if (argv[0] && *argv[0])
+		git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+
 	if (argc != 2)
 		usage("git-unpack-file <sha1>");
 	if (get_sha1(argv[1], sha1))
diff --git a/upload-pack.c b/upload-pack.c
index e5adbc011e..c469a60d79 100644
--- a/upload-pack.c
+++ b/upload-pack.c
@@ -616,6 +616,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int i;
 	int strict = 0;
 
+	if (argv[0] && *argv[0])
+		git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
 		char *arg = argv[i];
 
diff --git a/var.c b/var.c
index f1eb314e89..33457dc6ab 100644
--- a/var.c
+++ b/var.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
  * Copyright (C) Eric Biederman, 2005
  */
 #include "cache.h"
+#include "exec_cmd.h"
 
 static const char var_usage[] = "git var [-l | <variable>]";
 
@@ -56,6 +57,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		usage(var_usage);
 	}
 
+	if (argv[0] && *argv[0])
+		git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+
 	setup_git_directory_gently(&nongit);
 	val = NULL;