diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 6344d991e3..433d4ce652 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -399,6 +399,7 @@ HANDLE winansi_get_osfhandle(int fd);
  */
 
 #define has_dos_drive_prefix(path) (isalpha(*(path)) && (path)[1] == ':')
+#define has_unc_prefix(path) (*(path) == '\\' && (path)[1] == '\\')
 #define is_dir_sep(c) ((c) == '/' || (c) == '\\')
 static inline char *mingw_find_last_dir_sep(const char *path)
 {
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 4c2e0753fd..4cfd8d8511 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -337,6 +337,14 @@ static inline int git_has_dos_drive_prefix(const char *path)
 #define has_dos_drive_prefix git_has_dos_drive_prefix
 #endif
 
+#ifndef has_unc_prefix
+static inline int git_has_unc_prefix(const char *path)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+#define has_unc_prefix git_has_unc_prefix
+#endif
+
 #ifndef is_dir_sep
 static inline int git_is_dir_sep(int c)
 {
diff --git a/path.c b/path.c
index 0f5ca71357..bbe1ef234f 100644
--- a/path.c
+++ b/path.c
@@ -949,7 +949,7 @@ int normalize_path_copy_len(char *dst, const char *src, int *prefix_len)
 {
 	char *dst0;
 
-	if (has_dos_drive_prefix(src)) {
+	if (has_unc_prefix(src) || has_dos_drive_prefix(src)) {
 		*dst++ = *src++;
 		*dst++ = *src++;
 	}