diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 34b3880b29..97cd1179ae 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1129,14 +1129,20 @@ static char *lookup_prog(const char *dir, int dirlen, const char *cmd,
 			 int isexe, int exe_only)
 {
 	char path[MAX_PATH];
+	wchar_t wpath[MAX_PATH];
 	snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "%.*s\\%s.exe", dirlen, dir, cmd);
 
-	if (!isexe && access(path, F_OK) == 0)
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wpath, path) < 0)
+		return NULL;
+
+	if (!isexe && _waccess(wpath, F_OK) == 0)
 		return xstrdup(path);
 	path[strlen(path)-4] = '\0';
-	if ((!exe_only || isexe) && access(path, F_OK) == 0)
-		if (!(GetFileAttributes(path) & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
+	if ((!exe_only || isexe) && _waccess(wpath, F_OK) == 0) {
+
+		if (!(GetFileAttributesW(wpath) & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
 			return xstrdup(path);
+	}
 	return NULL;
 }