diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 306541b246..549669a3dd 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -631,8 +631,22 @@ void env_unsetenv(char **env, const char *name)
 	env[dst] = NULL;
 }
 
+/* this is the first function to call into WS_32; initialize it */
+#undef gethostbyname 
+struct hostent *mingw_gethostbyname(const char *host)
+{
+	WSADATA wsa;
+
+	if (WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2,2), &wsa))
+		die("unable to initialize winsock subsystem, error %d",
+			WSAGetLastError());
+	atexit((void(*)(void)) WSACleanup);
+	return gethostbyname(host);
+}
+
 int mingw_socket(int domain, int type, int protocol)
 {
+	int sockfd;
 	SOCKET s = WSASocket(domain, type, protocol, NULL, 0, 0);
 	if (s == INVALID_SOCKET) {
 		/*
@@ -647,7 +661,20 @@ int mingw_socket(int domain, int type, int protocol)
 		errno = WSAGetLastError();
 		return -1;
 	}
-	return s;
+	/* convert into a file descriptor */
+	if ((sockfd = _open_osfhandle(s, O_RDWR|O_BINARY)) < 0) {
+		closesocket(s);
+		return error("unable to make a socket file descriptor: %s",
+			strerror(errno));
+	}
+	return sockfd;
+}
+
+#undef connect
+int mingw_connect(int sockfd, struct sockaddr *sa, size_t sz)
+{
+	SOCKET s = (SOCKET)_get_osfhandle(sockfd);
+	return connect(s, sa, sz);
 }
 
 #undef rename
diff --git a/connect.c b/connect.c
index 0f10c40652..82fb62b080 100644
--- a/connect.c
+++ b/connect.c
@@ -345,23 +345,7 @@ static int git_tcp_connect_sock(char *host, int flags)
 
 static void git_tcp_connect(int fd[2], char *host, int flags)
 {
-#ifndef __MINGW32__
 	int sockfd = git_tcp_connect_sock(host, flags);
-#else
-	int sockfd;
-	WSADATA wsa;
-
-	if (WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2,2), &wsa))
-		die("unable to initialize winsock subsystem, error %d",
-			WSAGetLastError());
-	atexit((void(*)(void)) WSACleanup);
-
-	sockfd = git_tcp_connect_sock(host, flags);
-	/* convert into a file descriptor */
-	if ((sockfd = _open_osfhandle(sockfd, O_RDWR|O_BINARY)) < 0)
-		die("unable to make a socket file descriptor: %s",
-			strerror(errno));
-#endif
 
 	fd[0] = sockfd;
 	fd[1] = dup(sockfd);
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index aab57dfaef..4875d6baa3 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -523,9 +523,15 @@ struct tm *localtime_r(const time_t *timep, struct tm *result);
 char *mingw_getcwd(char *pointer, int len);
 #define getcwd mingw_getcwd
 
+struct hostent *mingw_gethostbyname(const char *host);
+#define gethostbyname mingw_gethostbyname
+
 int mingw_socket(int domain, int type, int protocol);
 #define socket mingw_socket
 
+int mingw_connect(int sockfd, struct sockaddr *sa, size_t sz);
+#define connect mingw_connect
+
 int mingw_rename(const char*, const char*);
 #define rename mingw_rename
 
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index e2c79a1efc..f75ba64b1f 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -399,8 +399,9 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	 * if we don't have anything better.
 	 */
 #ifdef __MINGW32__
-	if (!slash)
-		slash = strrchr(cmd, '\\');
+	char *bslash = strrchr(cmd, '\\');
+	if (!slash || (bslash && bslash > slash))
+		slash = bslash;
 #endif
 	if (slash) {
 		*slash++ = 0;