diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 4b80acafc8..8c46a5c76b 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ pid_t mingw_spawnvpe(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
 		     int fhin, int fhout, int fherr);
 int mingw_execvp(const char *cmd, char *const *argv);
 #define execvp mingw_execvp
-void mingw_execv(const char *cmd, char *const *argv);
+int mingw_execv(const char *cmd, char *const *argv);
 #define execv mingw_execv
 
 static inline unsigned int git_ntohl(unsigned int x)