diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index b76f94fc05..74412331d8 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -594,6 +594,10 @@ static inline int mingw_fcntl(int fd, int cmd, long arg)
 { return cmd == F_GETFD || cmd == F_SETFD ? 0 : (errno = EINVAL, -1); }
 #define fcntl mingw_fcntl
 
+static inline unsigned int git_ntohl(unsigned int x)
+{ return (unsigned int)ntohl(x); }
+#define ntohl git_ntohl
+
 #endif /* __MINGW32__ */
 
 #endif