diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index e9892f8ee4..79bac118ba 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "../git-compat-util.h"
 #include "win32.h"
 #include <conio.h>
+#include <wchar.h>
 #include "../strbuf.h"
 #include "../run-command.h"
 
@@ -178,7 +179,7 @@ static int ask_yes_no_if_possible(const char *format, ...)
 	vsnprintf(question, sizeof(question), format, args);
 	va_end(args);
 
-	if ((retry_hook[0] = mingw_getenv("GIT_ASK_YESNO"))) {
+	if ((retry_hook[0] = getenv("GIT_ASK_YESNO"))) {
 		retry_hook[1] = question;
 		return !run_command_v_opt(retry_hook, 0);
 	}
@@ -198,14 +199,16 @@ static int ask_yes_no_if_possible(const char *format, ...)
 	}
 }
 
-#undef unlink
 int mingw_unlink(const char *pathname)
 {
 	int ret, tries = 0;
+	wchar_t wpathname[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wpathname, pathname) < 0)
+		return -1;
 
 	/* read-only files cannot be removed */
-	chmod(pathname, 0666);
-	while ((ret = unlink(pathname)) == -1 && tries < ARRAY_SIZE(delay)) {
+	_wchmod(wpathname, 0666);
+	while ((ret = _wunlink(wpathname)) == -1 && tries < ARRAY_SIZE(delay)) {
 		if (!is_file_in_use_error(GetLastError()))
 			break;
 		/*
@@ -221,45 +224,45 @@ int mingw_unlink(const char *pathname)
 	while (ret == -1 && is_file_in_use_error(GetLastError()) &&
 	       ask_yes_no_if_possible("Unlink of file '%s' failed. "
 			"Should I try again?", pathname))
-	       ret = unlink(pathname);
+	       ret = _wunlink(wpathname);
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int is_dir_empty(const char *path)
+static int is_dir_empty(const wchar_t *wpath)
 {
-	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
-	WIN32_FIND_DATAA findbuf;
+	WIN32_FIND_DATAW findbuf;
 	HANDLE handle;
-
-	strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s\\*", path);
-	handle = FindFirstFileA(buf.buf, &findbuf);
-	if (handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
-		strbuf_release(&buf);
+	wchar_t wbuf[MAX_PATH + 2];
+	wcscpy(wbuf, wpath);
+	wcscat(wbuf, L"\\*");
+	handle = FindFirstFileW(wbuf, &findbuf);
+	if (handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
 		return GetLastError() == ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES;
-	}
 
-	while (!strcmp(findbuf.cFileName, ".") ||
-			!strcmp(findbuf.cFileName, ".."))
-		if (!FindNextFile(handle, &findbuf)) {
-			strbuf_release(&buf);
-			return GetLastError() == ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES;
+	while (!wcscmp(findbuf.cFileName, L".") ||
+			!wcscmp(findbuf.cFileName, L".."))
+		if (!FindNextFileW(handle, &findbuf)) {
+			DWORD err = GetLastError();
+			FindClose(handle);
+			return err == ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES;
 		}
 	FindClose(handle);
-	strbuf_release(&buf);
 	return 0;
 }
 
-#undef rmdir
 int mingw_rmdir(const char *pathname)
 {
 	int ret, tries = 0;
+	wchar_t wpathname[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wpathname, pathname) < 0)
+		return -1;
 
-	while ((ret = rmdir(pathname)) == -1 && tries < ARRAY_SIZE(delay)) {
+	while ((ret = _wrmdir(wpathname)) == -1 && tries < ARRAY_SIZE(delay)) {
 		if (!is_file_in_use_error(GetLastError()))
 			errno = err_win_to_posix(GetLastError());
 		if (errno != EACCES)
 			break;
-		if (!is_dir_empty(pathname)) {
+		if (!is_dir_empty(wpathname)) {
 			errno = ENOTEMPTY;
 			break;
 		}
@@ -276,16 +279,26 @@ int mingw_rmdir(const char *pathname)
 	while (ret == -1 && errno == EACCES && is_file_in_use_error(GetLastError()) &&
 	       ask_yes_no_if_possible("Deletion of directory '%s' failed. "
 			"Should I try again?", pathname))
-	       ret = rmdir(pathname);
+	       ret = _wrmdir(wpathname);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+int mingw_mkdir(const char *path, int mode)
+{
+	int ret;
+	wchar_t wpath[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wpath, path) < 0)
+		return -1;
+	ret = _wmkdir(wpath);
 	return ret;
 }
 
-#undef open
 int mingw_open (const char *filename, int oflags, ...)
 {
 	va_list args;
 	unsigned mode;
 	int fd;
+	wchar_t wfilename[MAX_PATH];
 
 	va_start(args, oflags);
 	mode = va_arg(args, int);
@@ -294,10 +307,12 @@ int mingw_open (const char *filename, int oflags, ...)
 	if (filename && !strcmp(filename, "/dev/null"))
 		filename = "nul";
 
-	fd = open(filename, oflags, mode);
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wfilename, filename) < 0)
+		return -1;
+	fd = _wopen(wfilename, oflags, mode);
 
 	if (fd < 0 && (oflags & O_CREAT) && errno == EACCES) {
-		DWORD attrs = GetFileAttributes(filename);
+		DWORD attrs = GetFileAttributesW(wfilename);
 		if (attrs != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES && (attrs & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
 			errno = EISDIR;
 	}
@@ -332,17 +347,28 @@ int mingw_fgetc(FILE *stream)
 #undef fopen
 FILE *mingw_fopen (const char *filename, const char *otype)
 {
+	FILE *file;
+	wchar_t wfilename[MAX_PATH], wotype[4];
 	if (filename && !strcmp(filename, "/dev/null"))
 		filename = "nul";
-	return fopen(filename, otype);
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wfilename, filename) < 0 ||
+		xutftowcs(wotype, otype, ARRAY_SIZE(wotype)) < 0)
+		return NULL;
+	file = _wfopen(wfilename, wotype);
+	return file;
 }
 
-#undef freopen
 FILE *mingw_freopen (const char *filename, const char *otype, FILE *stream)
 {
+	FILE *file;
+	wchar_t wfilename[MAX_PATH], wotype[4];
 	if (filename && !strcmp(filename, "/dev/null"))
 		filename = "nul";
-	return freopen(filename, otype, stream);
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wfilename, filename) < 0 ||
+		xutftowcs(wotype, otype, ARRAY_SIZE(wotype)) < 0)
+		return NULL;
+	file = _wfreopen(wfilename, wotype, stream);
+	return file;
 }
 
 #undef fflush
@@ -367,6 +393,31 @@ int mingw_fflush(FILE *stream)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+int mingw_access(const char *filename, int mode)
+{
+	wchar_t wfilename[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wfilename, filename) < 0)
+		return -1;
+	/* X_OK is not supported by the MSVCRT version */
+	return _waccess(wfilename, mode & ~X_OK);
+}
+
+int mingw_chdir(const char *dirname)
+{
+	wchar_t wdirname[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wdirname, dirname) < 0)
+		return -1;
+	return _wchdir(wdirname);
+}
+
+int mingw_chmod(const char *filename, int mode)
+{
+	wchar_t wfilename[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wfilename, filename) < 0)
+		return -1;
+	return _wchmod(wfilename, mode);
+}
+
 /*
  * The unit of FILETIME is 100-nanoseconds since January 1, 1601, UTC.
  * Returns the 100-nanoseconds ("hekto nanoseconds") since the epoch.
@@ -392,10 +443,12 @@ static inline time_t filetime_to_time_t(const FILETIME *ft)
  */
 static int do_lstat(int follow, const char *file_name, struct stat *buf)
 {
-	int err;
 	WIN32_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DATA fdata;
+	wchar_t wfilename[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wfilename, file_name) < 0)
+		return -1;
 
-	if (!(err = get_file_attr(file_name, &fdata))) {
+	if (GetFileAttributesExW(wfilename, GetFileExInfoStandard, &fdata)) {
 		buf->st_ino = 0;
 		buf->st_gid = 0;
 		buf->st_uid = 0;
@@ -408,8 +461,8 @@ static int do_lstat(int follow, const char *file_name, struct stat *buf)
 		buf->st_mtime = filetime_to_time_t(&(fdata.ftLastWriteTime));
 		buf->st_ctime = filetime_to_time_t(&(fdata.ftCreationTime));
 		if (fdata.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT) {
-			WIN32_FIND_DATAA findbuf;
-			HANDLE handle = FindFirstFileA(file_name, &findbuf);
+			WIN32_FIND_DATAW findbuf;
+			HANDLE handle = FindFirstFileW(wfilename, &findbuf);
 			if (handle != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
 				if ((findbuf.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT) &&
 						(findbuf.dwReserved0 == IO_REPARSE_TAG_SYMLINK)) {
@@ -428,7 +481,23 @@ static int do_lstat(int follow, const char *file_name, struct stat *buf)
 		}
 		return 0;
 	}
-	errno = err;
+	switch (GetLastError()) {
+	case ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED:
+	case ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION:
+	case ERROR_LOCK_VIOLATION:
+	case ERROR_SHARING_BUFFER_EXCEEDED:
+		errno = EACCES;
+		break;
+	case ERROR_BUFFER_OVERFLOW:
+		errno = ENAMETOOLONG;
+		break;
+	case ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY:
+		errno = ENOMEM;
+		break;
+	default:
+		errno = ENOENT;
+		break;
+	}
 	return -1;
 }
 
@@ -441,7 +510,7 @@ static int do_lstat(int follow, const char *file_name, struct stat *buf)
 static int do_stat_internal(int follow, const char *file_name, struct stat *buf)
 {
 	int namelen;
-	static char alt_name[PATH_MAX];
+	char alt_name[PATH_MAX];
 
 	if (!do_lstat(follow, file_name, buf))
 		return 0;
@@ -516,16 +585,20 @@ int mingw_utime (const char *file_name, const struct utimbuf *times)
 {
 	FILETIME mft, aft;
 	int fh, rc;
+	DWORD attrs;
+	wchar_t wfilename[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wfilename, file_name) < 0)
+		return -1;
 
 	/* must have write permission */
-	DWORD attrs = GetFileAttributes(file_name);
+	attrs = GetFileAttributesW(wfilename);
 	if (attrs != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES &&
 	    (attrs & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY)) {
 		/* ignore errors here; open() will report them */
-		SetFileAttributes(file_name, attrs & ~FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY);
+		SetFileAttributesW(wfilename, attrs & ~FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY);
 	}
 
-	if ((fh = open(file_name, O_RDWR | O_BINARY)) < 0) {
+	if ((fh = _wopen(wfilename, O_RDWR | O_BINARY)) < 0) {
 		rc = -1;
 		goto revert_attrs;
 	}
@@ -548,7 +621,7 @@ revert_attrs:
 	if (attrs != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES &&
 	    (attrs & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY)) {
 		/* ignore errors again */
-		SetFileAttributes(file_name, attrs);
+		SetFileAttributesW(wfilename, attrs);
 	}
 	return rc;
 }
@@ -559,6 +632,18 @@ unsigned int sleep (unsigned int seconds)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+char *mingw_mktemp(char *template)
+{
+	wchar_t wtemplate[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wtemplate, template) < 0)
+		return NULL;
+	if (!_wmktemp(wtemplate))
+		return NULL;
+	if (xwcstoutf(template, wtemplate, strlen(template) + 1) < 0)
+		return NULL;
+	return template;
+}
+
 int mkstemp(char *template)
 {
 	char *filename = mktemp(template);
@@ -617,17 +702,107 @@ struct tm *localtime_r(const time_t *timep, struct tm *result)
 	return result;
 }
 
-#undef getcwd
 char *mingw_getcwd(char *pointer, int len)
 {
 	int i;
-	char *ret = getcwd(pointer, len);
-	if (!ret)
-		return ret;
+	wchar_t wpointer[MAX_PATH];
+	if (!_wgetcwd(wpointer, ARRAY_SIZE(wpointer)))
+		return NULL;
+	if (xwcstoutf(pointer, wpointer, len) < 0)
+		return NULL;
 	for (i = 0; pointer[i]; i++)
 		if (pointer[i] == '\\')
 			pointer[i] = '/';
-	return ret;
+	return pointer;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Compare environment entries by key (i.e. stopping at '=' or '\0').
+ */
+static int compareenv(const void *v1, const void *v2)
+{
+	const char *e1 = *(const char**)v1;
+	const char *e2 = *(const char**)v2;
+
+	for (;;) {
+		int c1 = *e1++;
+		int c2 = *e2++;
+		c1 = (c1 == '=') ? 0 : tolower(c1);
+		c2 = (c2 == '=') ? 0 : tolower(c2);
+		if (c1 > c2)
+			return 1;
+		if (c1 < c2)
+			return -1;
+		if (c1 == 0)
+			return 0;
+	}
+}
+
+static int bsearchenv(char **env, const char *name, size_t size)
+{
+	unsigned low = 0, high = size;
+	while (low < high) {
+		unsigned mid = low + ((high - low) >> 1);
+		int cmp = compareenv(&env[mid], &name);
+		if (cmp < 0)
+			low = mid + 1;
+		else if (cmp > 0)
+			high = mid;
+		else
+			return mid;
+	}
+	return ~low; /* not found, return 1's complement of insert position */
+}
+
+/*
+ * If name contains '=', then sets the variable, otherwise it unsets it
+ * Size includes the terminating NULL. Env must have room for size + 1 entries
+ * (in case of insert). Returns the new size. Optionally frees removed entries.
+ */
+static int do_putenv(char **env, const char *name, int size, int free_old)
+{
+	int i = bsearchenv(env, name, size - 1);
+
+	/* optionally free removed / replaced entry */
+	if (i >= 0 && free_old)
+		free(env[i]);
+
+	if (strchr(name, '=')) {
+		/* if new value ('key=value') is specified, insert or replace entry */
+		if (i < 0) {
+			i = ~i;
+			memmove(&env[i + 1], &env[i], (size - i) * sizeof(char*));
+			size++;
+		}
+		env[i] = (char*) name;
+	} else if (i >= 0) {
+		/* otherwise ('key') remove existing entry */
+		size--;
+		memmove(&env[i], &env[i + 1], (size - i) * sizeof(char*));
+	}
+	return size;
+}
+
+/* used number of elements of environ array, including terminating NULL */
+static int environ_size = 0;
+/* allocated size of environ array, in bytes */
+static int environ_alloc = 0;
+
+char *mingw_getenv(const char *name)
+{
+	char *value;
+	int pos = bsearchenv(environ, name, environ_size - 1);
+	if (pos < 0)
+		return NULL;
+	value = strchr(environ[pos], '=');
+	return value ? &value[1] : NULL;
+}
+
+int mingw_putenv(const char *namevalue)
+{
+	ALLOC_GROW(environ, (environ_size + 1) * sizeof(char*), environ_alloc);
+	environ_size = do_putenv(environ, namevalue, environ_size, 1);
+	return 0;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -729,7 +904,7 @@ static const char *parse_interpreter(const char *cmd)
  */
 static char **get_path_split(void)
 {
-	char *p, **path, *envpath = mingw_getenv("PATH");
+	char *p, **path, *envpath = getenv("PATH");
 	int i, n = 0;
 
 	if (!envpath || !*envpath)
@@ -812,11 +987,37 @@ static char *path_lookup(const char *cmd, char **path, int exe_only)
 	return prog;
 }
 
-static int env_compare(const void *a, const void *b)
+/*
+ * Create environment block suitable for CreateProcess. Merges current
+ * process environment and the supplied environment changes.
+ */
+static wchar_t *make_environment_block(char **deltaenv)
 {
-	char *const *ea = a;
-	char *const *eb = b;
-	return strcasecmp(*ea, *eb);
+	wchar_t *wenvblk = NULL;
+	char **tmpenv;
+	int i = 0, size = environ_size, wenvsz = 0, wenvpos = 0;
+
+	while (deltaenv && deltaenv[i])
+		i++;
+
+	/* copy the environment, leaving space for changes */
+	tmpenv = xmalloc((size + i) * sizeof(char*));
+	memcpy(tmpenv, environ, size * sizeof(char*));
+
+	/* merge supplied environment changes into the temporary environment */
+	for (i = 0; deltaenv && deltaenv[i]; i++)
+		size = do_putenv(tmpenv, deltaenv[i], size, 0);
+
+	/* create environment block from temporary environment */
+	for (i = 0; tmpenv[i]; i++) {
+		size = 2 * strlen(tmpenv[i]) + 2; /* +2 for final \0 */
+		ALLOC_GROW(wenvblk, (wenvpos + size) * sizeof(wchar_t), wenvsz);
+		wenvpos += xutftowcs(&wenvblk[wenvpos], tmpenv[i], size) + 1;
+	}
+	/* add final \0 terminator */
+	wenvblk[wenvpos] = 0;
+	free(tmpenv);
+	return wenvblk;
 }
 
 struct pinfo_t {
@@ -827,14 +1028,15 @@ struct pinfo_t {
 static struct pinfo_t *pinfo = NULL;
 CRITICAL_SECTION pinfo_cs;
 
-static pid_t mingw_spawnve_fd(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
+static pid_t mingw_spawnve_fd(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **deltaenv,
 			      const char *dir,
 			      int prepend_cmd, int fhin, int fhout, int fherr)
 {
-	STARTUPINFO si;
+	STARTUPINFOW si;
 	PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
-	struct strbuf envblk, args;
-	unsigned flags;
+	struct strbuf args;
+	wchar_t wcmd[MAX_PATH], wdir[MAX_PATH], *wargs, *wenvblk = NULL;
+	unsigned flags = CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT;
 	BOOL ret;
 
 	/* Determine whether or not we are associated to a console */
@@ -851,7 +1053,7 @@ static pid_t mingw_spawnve_fd(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
 		 * instead of CREATE_NO_WINDOW to make ssh
 		 * recognize that it has no console.
 		 */
-		flags = DETACHED_PROCESS;
+		flags |= DETACHED_PROCESS;
 	} else {
 		/* There is already a console. If we specified
 		 * DETACHED_PROCESS here, too, Windows would
@@ -859,15 +1061,19 @@ static pid_t mingw_spawnve_fd(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
 		 * The same is true for CREATE_NO_WINDOW.
 		 * Go figure!
 		 */
-		flags = 0;
 		CloseHandle(cons);
 	}
 	memset(&si, 0, sizeof(si));
 	si.cb = sizeof(si);
 	si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
-	si.hStdInput = (HANDLE) _get_osfhandle(fhin);
-	si.hStdOutput = (HANDLE) _get_osfhandle(fhout);
-	si.hStdError = (HANDLE) _get_osfhandle(fherr);
+	si.hStdInput = winansi_get_osfhandle(fhin);
+	si.hStdOutput = winansi_get_osfhandle(fhout);
+	si.hStdError = winansi_get_osfhandle(fherr);
+
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wcmd, cmd) < 0)
+		return -1;
+	if (dir && xutftowcs_path(wdir, dir) < 0)
+		return -1;
 
 	/* concatenate argv, quoting args as we go */
 	strbuf_init(&args, 0);
@@ -886,33 +1092,18 @@ static pid_t mingw_spawnve_fd(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
 			free(quoted);
 	}
 
-	if (env) {
-		int count = 0;
-		char **e, **sorted_env;
+	wargs = xmalloc((2 * args.len + 1) * sizeof(wchar_t));
+	xutftowcs(wargs, args.buf, 2 * args.len + 1);
+	strbuf_release(&args);
 
-		for (e = env; *e; e++)
-			count++;
-
-		/* environment must be sorted */
-		sorted_env = xmalloc(sizeof(*sorted_env) * (count + 1));
-		memcpy(sorted_env, env, sizeof(*sorted_env) * (count + 1));
-		qsort(sorted_env, count, sizeof(*sorted_env), env_compare);
-
-		strbuf_init(&envblk, 0);
-		for (e = sorted_env; *e; e++) {
-			strbuf_addstr(&envblk, *e);
-			strbuf_addch(&envblk, '\0');
-		}
-		free(sorted_env);
-	}
+	wenvblk = make_environment_block(deltaenv);
 
 	memset(&pi, 0, sizeof(pi));
-	ret = CreateProcess(cmd, args.buf, NULL, NULL, TRUE, flags,
-		env ? envblk.buf : NULL, dir, &si, &pi);
+	ret = CreateProcessW(wcmd, wargs, NULL, NULL, TRUE, flags,
+		wenvblk, dir ? wdir : NULL, &si, &pi);
 
-	if (env)
-		strbuf_release(&envblk);
-	strbuf_release(&args);
+	free(wenvblk);
+	free(wargs);
 
 	if (!ret) {
 		errno = ENOENT;
@@ -941,13 +1132,12 @@ static pid_t mingw_spawnve_fd(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
 	return (pid_t)pi.dwProcessId;
 }
 
-static pid_t mingw_spawnve(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
-			   int prepend_cmd)
+static pid_t mingw_spawnv(const char *cmd, const char **argv, int prepend_cmd)
 {
-	return mingw_spawnve_fd(cmd, argv, env, NULL, prepend_cmd, 0, 1, 2);
+	return mingw_spawnve_fd(cmd, argv, NULL, NULL, prepend_cmd, 0, 1, 2);
 }
 
-pid_t mingw_spawnvpe(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
+pid_t mingw_spawnvpe(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **deltaenv,
 		     const char *dir,
 		     int fhin, int fhout, int fherr)
 {
@@ -971,14 +1161,14 @@ pid_t mingw_spawnvpe(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
 				pid = -1;
 			}
 			else {
-				pid = mingw_spawnve_fd(iprog, argv, env, dir, 1,
+				pid = mingw_spawnve_fd(iprog, argv, deltaenv, dir, 1,
 						       fhin, fhout, fherr);
 				free(iprog);
 			}
 			argv[0] = argv0;
 		}
 		else
-			pid = mingw_spawnve_fd(prog, argv, env, dir, 0,
+			pid = mingw_spawnve_fd(prog, argv, deltaenv, dir, 0,
 					       fhin, fhout, fherr);
 		free(prog);
 	}
@@ -986,7 +1176,7 @@ pid_t mingw_spawnvpe(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
 	return pid;
 }
 
-static int try_shell_exec(const char *cmd, char *const *argv, char **env)
+static int try_shell_exec(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 {
 	const char *interpr = parse_interpreter(cmd);
 	char **path;
@@ -1004,7 +1194,7 @@ static int try_shell_exec(const char *cmd, char *const *argv, char **env)
 		argv2 = xmalloc(sizeof(*argv) * (argc+1));
 		argv2[0] = (char *)cmd;	/* full path to the script file */
 		memcpy(&argv2[1], &argv[1], sizeof(*argv) * argc);
-		pid = mingw_spawnve(prog, argv2, env, 1);
+		pid = mingw_spawnv(prog, argv2, 1);
 		if (pid >= 0) {
 			int status;
 			if (waitpid(pid, &status, 0) < 0)
@@ -1019,19 +1209,20 @@ static int try_shell_exec(const char *cmd, char *const *argv, char **env)
 	return pid;
 }
 
-static void mingw_execve(const char *cmd, char *const *argv, char *const *env)
+int mingw_execv(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 {
 	/* check if git_command is a shell script */
-	if (!try_shell_exec(cmd, argv, (char **)env)) {
+	if (!try_shell_exec(cmd, argv)) {
 		int pid, status;
 
-		pid = mingw_spawnve(cmd, (const char **)argv, (char **)env, 0);
+		pid = mingw_spawnv(cmd, (const char **)argv, 0);
 		if (pid < 0)
-			return;
+			return -1;
 		if (waitpid(pid, &status, 0) < 0)
 			status = 255;
 		exit(status);
 	}
+	return -1;
 }
 
 int mingw_execvp(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
@@ -1040,7 +1231,7 @@ int mingw_execvp(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 	char *prog = path_lookup(cmd, path, 0);
 
 	if (prog) {
-		mingw_execve(prog, argv, environ);
+		mingw_execv(prog, argv);
 		free(prog);
 	} else
 		errno = ENOENT;
@@ -1049,12 +1240,6 @@ int mingw_execvp(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-int mingw_execv(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
-{
-	mingw_execve(cmd, argv, environ);
-	return -1;
-}
-
 int mingw_kill(pid_t pid, int sig)
 {
 	if (pid > 0 && sig == SIGTERM) {
@@ -1080,110 +1265,6 @@ int mingw_kill(pid_t pid, int sig)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-static char **copy_environ(void)
-{
-	char **env;
-	int i = 0;
-	while (environ[i])
-		i++;
-	env = xmalloc((i+1)*sizeof(*env));
-	for (i = 0; environ[i]; i++)
-		env[i] = xstrdup(environ[i]);
-	env[i] = NULL;
-	return env;
-}
-
-void free_environ(char **env)
-{
-	int i;
-	for (i = 0; env[i]; i++)
-		free(env[i]);
-	free(env);
-}
-
-static int lookup_env(char **env, const char *name, size_t nmln)
-{
-	int i;
-
-	for (i = 0; env[i]; i++) {
-		if (0 == strncmp(env[i], name, nmln)
-		    && '=' == env[i][nmln])
-			/* matches */
-			return i;
-	}
-	return -1;
-}
-
-/*
- * If name contains '=', then sets the variable, otherwise it unsets it
- */
-static char **env_setenv(char **env, const char *name)
-{
-	char *eq = strchrnul(name, '=');
-	int i = lookup_env(env, name, eq-name);
-
-	if (i < 0) {
-		if (*eq) {
-			for (i = 0; env[i]; i++)
-				;
-			env = xrealloc(env, (i+2)*sizeof(*env));
-			env[i] = xstrdup(name);
-			env[i+1] = NULL;
-		}
-	}
-	else {
-		free(env[i]);
-		if (*eq)
-			env[i] = xstrdup(name);
-		else
-			for (; env[i]; i++)
-				env[i] = env[i+1];
-	}
-	return env;
-}
-
-/*
- * Copies global environ and adjusts variables as specified by vars.
- */
-char **make_augmented_environ(const char *const *vars)
-{
-	char **env = copy_environ();
-
-	while (*vars)
-		env = env_setenv(env, *vars++);
-	return env;
-}
-
-#undef getenv
-
-/*
- * The system's getenv looks up the name in a case-insensitive manner.
- * This version tries a case-sensitive lookup and falls back to
- * case-insensitive if nothing was found.  This is necessary because,
- * as a prominent example, CMD sets 'Path', but not 'PATH'.
- * Warning: not thread-safe.
- */
-static char *getenv_cs(const char *name)
-{
-	size_t len = strlen(name);
-	int i = lookup_env(environ, name, len);
-	if (i >= 0)
-		return environ[i] + len + 1;	/* skip past name and '=' */
-	return getenv(name);
-}
-
-char *mingw_getenv(const char *name)
-{
-	char *result = getenv_cs(name);
-	if (!result && !strcmp(name, "TMPDIR")) {
-		/* on Windows it is TMP and TEMP */
-		result = getenv_cs("TMP");
-		if (!result)
-			result = getenv_cs("TEMP");
-	}
-	return result;
-}
-
 /*
  * Note, this isn't a complete replacement for getaddrinfo. It assumes
  * that service contains a numerical port, or that it is null. It
@@ -1481,33 +1562,36 @@ int mingw_rename(const char *pold, const char *pnew)
 {
 	DWORD attrs, gle;
 	int tries = 0;
+	wchar_t wpold[MAX_PATH], wpnew[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wpold, pold) < 0 || xutftowcs_path(wpnew, pnew) < 0)
+		return -1;
 
 	/*
 	 * Try native rename() first to get errno right.
 	 * It is based on MoveFile(), which cannot overwrite existing files.
 	 */
-	if (!rename(pold, pnew))
+	if (!_wrename(wpold, wpnew))
 		return 0;
 	if (errno != EEXIST)
 		return -1;
 repeat:
-	if (MoveFileEx(pold, pnew, MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING))
+	if (MoveFileExW(wpold, wpnew, MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING))
 		return 0;
 	/* TODO: translate more errors */
 	gle = GetLastError();
 	if (gle == ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED &&
-	    (attrs = GetFileAttributes(pnew)) != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES) {
+	    (attrs = GetFileAttributesW(wpnew)) != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES) {
 		if (attrs & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY) {
 			errno = EISDIR;
 			return -1;
 		}
 		if ((attrs & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY) &&
-		    SetFileAttributes(pnew, attrs & ~FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY)) {
-			if (MoveFileEx(pold, pnew, MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING))
+		    SetFileAttributesW(wpnew, attrs & ~FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY)) {
+			if (MoveFileExW(wpold, wpnew, MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING))
 				return 0;
 			gle = GetLastError();
 			/* revert file attributes on failure */
-			SetFileAttributes(pnew, attrs);
+			SetFileAttributesW(wpnew, attrs);
 		}
 	}
 	if (tries < ARRAY_SIZE(delay) && gle == ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED) {
@@ -1753,11 +1837,16 @@ void mingw_open_html(const char *unixpath)
 
 int link(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath)
 {
-	typedef BOOL (WINAPI *T)(const char*, const char*, LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES);
+	typedef BOOL (WINAPI *T)(LPCWSTR, LPCWSTR, LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES);
 	static T create_hard_link = NULL;
+	wchar_t woldpath[MAX_PATH], wnewpath[MAX_PATH];
+	if (xutftowcs_path(woldpath, oldpath) < 0 ||
+		xutftowcs_path(wnewpath, newpath) < 0)
+		return -1;
+
 	if (!create_hard_link) {
 		create_hard_link = (T) GetProcAddress(
-			GetModuleHandle("kernel32.dll"), "CreateHardLinkA");
+			GetModuleHandle("kernel32.dll"), "CreateHardLinkW");
 		if (!create_hard_link)
 			create_hard_link = (T)-1;
 	}
@@ -1765,7 +1854,7 @@ int link(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath)
 		errno = ENOSYS;
 		return -1;
 	}
-	if (!create_hard_link(newpath, oldpath, NULL)) {
+	if (!create_hard_link(wnewpath, woldpath, NULL)) {
 		errno = err_win_to_posix(GetLastError());
 		return -1;
 	}
@@ -1823,3 +1912,193 @@ pid_t waitpid(pid_t pid, int *status, int options)
 	errno = EINVAL;
 	return -1;
 }
+
+int xutftowcsn(wchar_t *wcs, const char *utfs, size_t wcslen, int utflen)
+{
+	int upos = 0, wpos = 0;
+	const unsigned char *utf = (const unsigned char*) utfs;
+	if (!utf || !wcs || wcslen < 1) {
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		return -1;
+	}
+	/* reserve space for \0 */
+	wcslen--;
+	if (utflen < 0)
+		utflen = INT_MAX;
+
+	while (upos < utflen) {
+		int c = utf[upos++] & 0xff;
+		if (utflen == INT_MAX && c == 0)
+			break;
+
+		if (wpos >= wcslen) {
+			wcs[wpos] = 0;
+			errno = ERANGE;
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		if (c < 0x80) {
+			/* ASCII */
+			wcs[wpos++] = c;
+		} else if (c >= 0xc2 && c < 0xe0 && upos < utflen &&
+				(utf[upos] & 0xc0) == 0x80) {
+			/* 2-byte utf-8 */
+			c = ((c & 0x1f) << 6);
+			c |= (utf[upos++] & 0x3f);
+			wcs[wpos++] = c;
+		} else if (c >= 0xe0 && c < 0xf0 && upos + 1 < utflen &&
+				!(c == 0xe0 && utf[upos] < 0xa0) && /* over-long encoding */
+				(utf[upos] & 0xc0) == 0x80 &&
+				(utf[upos + 1] & 0xc0) == 0x80) {
+			/* 3-byte utf-8 */
+			c = ((c & 0x0f) << 12);
+			c |= ((utf[upos++] & 0x3f) << 6);
+			c |= (utf[upos++] & 0x3f);
+			wcs[wpos++] = c;
+		} else if (c >= 0xf0 && c < 0xf5 && upos + 2 < utflen &&
+				wpos + 1 < wcslen &&
+				!(c == 0xf0 && utf[upos] < 0x90) && /* over-long encoding */
+				!(c == 0xf4 && utf[upos] >= 0x90) && /* > \u10ffff */
+				(utf[upos] & 0xc0) == 0x80 &&
+				(utf[upos + 1] & 0xc0) == 0x80 &&
+				(utf[upos + 2] & 0xc0) == 0x80) {
+			/* 4-byte utf-8: convert to \ud8xx \udcxx surrogate pair */
+			c = ((c & 0x07) << 18);
+			c |= ((utf[upos++] & 0x3f) << 12);
+			c |= ((utf[upos++] & 0x3f) << 6);
+			c |= (utf[upos++] & 0x3f);
+			c -= 0x10000;
+			wcs[wpos++] = 0xd800 | (c >> 10);
+			wcs[wpos++] = 0xdc00 | (c & 0x3ff);
+		} else if (c >= 0xa0) {
+			/* invalid utf-8 byte, printable unicode char: convert 1:1 */
+			wcs[wpos++] = c;
+		} else {
+			/* invalid utf-8 byte, non-printable unicode: convert to hex */
+			static const char *hex = "0123456789abcdef";
+			wcs[wpos++] = hex[c >> 4];
+			if (wpos < wcslen)
+				wcs[wpos++] = hex[c & 0x0f];
+		}
+	}
+	wcs[wpos] = 0;
+	return wpos;
+}
+
+int xwcstoutf(char *utf, const wchar_t *wcs, size_t utflen)
+{
+	if (!wcs || !utf || utflen < 1) {
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		return -1;
+	}
+	utflen = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, wcs, -1, utf, utflen, NULL, NULL);
+	if (utflen)
+		return utflen - 1;
+	errno = ERANGE;
+	return -1;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Disable MSVCRT command line wildcard expansion (__getmainargs called from
+ * mingw startup code, see init.c in mingw runtime).
+ */
+int _CRT_glob = 0;
+
+typedef struct {
+	int newmode;
+} _startupinfo;
+
+extern int __wgetmainargs(int *argc, wchar_t ***argv, wchar_t ***env, int glob,
+		_startupinfo *si);
+
+static NORETURN void die_startup()
+{
+	fputs("fatal: not enough memory for initialization", stderr);
+	exit(128);
+}
+
+static void *malloc_startup(size_t size)
+{
+	void *result = malloc(size);
+	if (!result)
+		die_startup();
+	return result;
+}
+
+static char *wcstoutfdup_startup(char *buffer, const wchar_t *wcs, size_t len)
+{
+	len = xwcstoutf(buffer, wcs, len) + 1;
+	return memcpy(malloc_startup(len), buffer, len);
+}
+
+void mingw_startup()
+{
+	int i, maxlen, argc;
+	char *buffer;
+	wchar_t **wenv, **wargv;
+	_startupinfo si;
+
+	/* get wide char arguments and environment */
+	si.newmode = 0;
+	if (__wgetmainargs(&argc, &wargv, &wenv, _CRT_glob, &si) < 0)
+		die_startup();
+
+	/* determine size of argv and environ conversion buffer */
+	maxlen = wcslen(_wpgmptr);
+	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
+		maxlen = max(maxlen, wcslen(wargv[i]));
+	for (i = 0; wenv[i]; i++)
+		maxlen = max(maxlen, wcslen(wenv[i]));
+
+	/*
+	 * nedmalloc can't free CRT memory, allocate resizable environment
+	 * list. Note that xmalloc / xmemdupz etc. call getenv, so we cannot
+	 * use it while initializing the environment itself.
+	 */
+	environ_size = i + 1;
+	environ_alloc = alloc_nr(environ_size * sizeof(char*));
+	environ = malloc_startup(environ_alloc);
+
+	/* allocate buffer (wchar_t encodes to max 3 UTF-8 bytes) */
+	maxlen = 3 * maxlen + 1;
+	buffer = malloc_startup(maxlen);
+
+	/* convert command line arguments and environment to UTF-8 */
+	__argv[0] = wcstoutfdup_startup(buffer, _wpgmptr, maxlen);
+	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
+		__argv[i] = wcstoutfdup_startup(buffer, wargv[i], maxlen);
+	for (i = 0; wenv[i]; i++)
+		environ[i] = wcstoutfdup_startup(buffer, wenv[i], maxlen);
+	environ[i] = NULL;
+	free(buffer);
+
+	/* sort environment for O(log n) getenv / putenv */
+	qsort(environ, i, sizeof(char*), compareenv);
+
+	/* fix Windows specific environment settings */
+
+	/* on Windows it is TMP and TEMP */
+	if (!getenv("TMPDIR")) {
+		const char *tmp = getenv("TMP");
+		if (!tmp)
+			tmp = getenv("TEMP");
+		if (tmp)
+			setenv("TMPDIR", tmp, 1);
+	}
+
+	/* simulate TERM to enable auto-color (see color.c) */
+	if (!getenv("TERM"))
+		setenv("TERM", "winansi", 1);
+
+	/* initialize critical section for waitpid pinfo_t list */
+	InitializeCriticalSection(&pinfo_cs);
+
+	/* set up default file mode and file modes for stdin/out/err */
+	_fmode = _O_BINARY;
+	_setmode(_fileno(stdin), _O_BINARY);
+	_setmode(_fileno(stdout), _O_BINARY);
+	_setmode(_fileno(stderr), _O_BINARY);
+
+	/* initialize Unicode console */
+	winansi_init();
+}
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index e033e720c9..e5006e92d9 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -118,10 +118,7 @@ static inline int fcntl(int fd, int cmd, ...)
  * simple adaptors
  */
 
-static inline int mingw_mkdir(const char *path, int mode)
-{
-	return mkdir(path);
-}
+int mingw_mkdir(const char *path, int mode);
 #define mkdir mingw_mkdir
 
 #define WNOHANG 1
@@ -192,11 +189,27 @@ FILE *mingw_freopen (const char *filename, const char *otype, FILE *stream);
 int mingw_fflush(FILE *stream);
 #define fflush mingw_fflush
 
+int mingw_access(const char *filename, int mode);
+#undef access
+#define access mingw_access
+
+int mingw_chdir(const char *dirname);
+#define chdir mingw_chdir
+
+int mingw_chmod(const char *filename, int mode);
+#define chmod mingw_chmod
+
+char *mingw_mktemp(char *template);
+#define mktemp mingw_mktemp
+
 char *mingw_getcwd(char *pointer, int len);
 #define getcwd mingw_getcwd
 
 char *mingw_getenv(const char *name);
 #define getenv mingw_getenv
+int mingw_putenv(const char *namevalue);
+#define putenv mingw_putenv
+#define unsetenv mingw_putenv
 
 int mingw_gethostname(char *host, int namelen);
 #define gethostname mingw_gethostname
@@ -317,12 +330,8 @@ int mingw_raise(int sig);
  * ANSI emulation wrappers
  */
 
-int winansi_fputs(const char *str, FILE *stream);
-int winansi_printf(const char *format, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
-int winansi_fprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 2, 3)));
-#define fputs winansi_fputs
-#define printf(...) winansi_printf(__VA_ARGS__)
-#define fprintf(...) winansi_fprintf(__VA_ARGS__)
+void winansi_init(void);
+HANDLE winansi_get_osfhandle(int fd);
 
 /*
  * git specific compatibility
@@ -346,12 +355,112 @@ static inline char *mingw_find_last_dir_sep(const char *path)
 void mingw_open_html(const char *path);
 #define open_html mingw_open_html
 
-/*
- * helpers
- */
+void mingw_mark_as_git_dir(const char *dir);
+#define mark_as_git_dir mingw_mark_as_git_dir
 
-char **make_augmented_environ(const char *const *vars);
-void free_environ(char **env);
+/**
+ * Converts UTF-8 encoded string to UTF-16LE.
+ *
+ * To support repositories with legacy-encoded file names, invalid UTF-8 bytes
+ * 0xa0 - 0xff are converted to corresponding printable Unicode chars \u00a0 -
+ * \u00ff, and invalid UTF-8 bytes 0x80 - 0x9f (which would make non-printable
+ * Unicode) are converted to hex-code.
+ *
+ * Lead-bytes not followed by an appropriate number of trail-bytes, over-long
+ * encodings and 4-byte encodings > \u10ffff are detected as invalid UTF-8.
+ *
+ * Maximum space requirement for the target buffer is two wide chars per UTF-8
+ * char (((strlen(utf) * 2) + 1) [* sizeof(wchar_t)]).
+ *
+ * The maximum space is needed only if the entire input string consists of
+ * invalid UTF-8 bytes in range 0x80-0x9f, as per the following table:
+ *
+ *               |                   | UTF-8 | UTF-16 |
+ *   Code point  |  UTF-8 sequence   | bytes | words  | ratio
+ * --------------+-------------------+-------+--------+-------
+ * 000000-00007f | 0-7f              |   1   |   1    |  1
+ * 000080-0007ff | c2-df + 80-bf     |   2   |   1    |  0.5
+ * 000800-00ffff | e0-ef + 2 * 80-bf |   3   |   1    |  0.33
+ * 010000-10ffff | f0-f4 + 3 * 80-bf |   4   |  2 (a) |  0.5
+ * invalid       | 80-9f             |   1   |  2 (b) |  2
+ * invalid       | a0-ff             |   1   |   1    |  1
+ *
+ * (a) encoded as UTF-16 surrogate pair
+ * (b) encoded as two hex digits
+ *
+ * Note that, while the UTF-8 encoding scheme can be extended to 5-byte, 6-byte
+ * or even indefinite-byte sequences, the largest valid code point \u10ffff
+ * encodes as only 4 UTF-8 bytes.
+ *
+ * Parameters:
+ * wcs: wide char target buffer
+ * utf: string to convert
+ * wcslen: size of target buffer (in wchar_t's)
+ * utflen: size of string to convert, or -1 if 0-terminated
+ *
+ * Returns:
+ * length of converted string (_wcslen(wcs)), or -1 on failure
+ *
+ * Errors:
+ * EINVAL: one of the input parameters is invalid (e.g. NULL)
+ * ERANGE: the output buffer is too small
+ */
+int xutftowcsn(wchar_t *wcs, const char *utf, size_t wcslen, int utflen);
+
+/**
+ * Simplified variant of xutftowcsn, assumes input string is \0-terminated.
+ */
+static inline int xutftowcs(wchar_t *wcs, const char *utf, size_t wcslen)
+{
+	return xutftowcsn(wcs, utf, wcslen, -1);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Simplified file system specific variant of xutftowcsn, assumes output
+ * buffer size is MAX_PATH wide chars and input string is \0-terminated,
+ * fails with ENAMETOOLONG if input string is too long.
+ */
+static inline int xutftowcs_path(wchar_t *wcs, const char *utf)
+{
+	int result = xutftowcsn(wcs, utf, MAX_PATH, -1);
+	if (result < 0 && errno == ERANGE)
+		errno = ENAMETOOLONG;
+	return result;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Converts UTF-16LE encoded string to UTF-8.
+ *
+ * Maximum space requirement for the target buffer is three UTF-8 chars per
+ * wide char ((_wcslen(wcs) * 3) + 1).
+ *
+ * The maximum space is needed only if the entire input string consists of
+ * UTF-16 words in range 0x0800-0xd7ff or 0xe000-0xffff (i.e. \u0800-\uffff
+ * modulo surrogate pairs), as per the following table:
+ *
+ *               |                       | UTF-16 | UTF-8 |
+ *   Code point  |  UTF-16 sequence      | words  | bytes | ratio
+ * --------------+-----------------------+--------+-------+-------
+ * 000000-00007f | 0000-007f             |   1    |   1   |  1
+ * 000080-0007ff | 0080-07ff             |   1    |   2   |  2
+ * 000800-00ffff | 0800-d7ff / e000-ffff |   1    |   3   |  3
+ * 010000-10ffff | d800-dbff + dc00-dfff |   2    |   4   |  2
+ *
+ * Note that invalid code points > 10ffff cannot be represented in UTF-16.
+ *
+ * Parameters:
+ * utf: target buffer
+ * wcs: wide string to convert
+ * utflen: size of target buffer
+ *
+ * Returns:
+ * length of converted string, or -1 on failure
+ *
+ * Errors:
+ * EINVAL: one of the input parameters is invalid (e.g. NULL)
+ * ERANGE: the output buffer is too small
+ */
+int xwcstoutf(char *utf, const wchar_t *wcs, size_t utflen);
 
 /*
  * A critical section used in the implementation of the spawn
@@ -361,22 +470,16 @@ void free_environ(char **env);
 extern CRITICAL_SECTION pinfo_cs;
 
 /*
- * A replacement of main() that ensures that argv[0] has a path
- * and that default fmode and std(in|out|err) are in binary mode
+ * A replacement of main() that adds win32 specific initialization.
  */
 
+void mingw_startup();
 #define main(c,v) dummy_decl_mingw_main(); \
 static int mingw_main(c,v); \
-int main(int argc, char **argv) \
+int main(c,v) \
 { \
-	extern CRITICAL_SECTION pinfo_cs; \
-	_fmode = _O_BINARY; \
-	_setmode(_fileno(stdin), _O_BINARY); \
-	_setmode(_fileno(stdout), _O_BINARY); \
-	_setmode(_fileno(stderr), _O_BINARY); \
-	argv[0] = xstrdup(_pgmptr); \
-	InitializeCriticalSection(&pinfo_cs); \
-	return mingw_main(argc, argv); \
+	mingw_startup(); \
+	return mingw_main(__argc, __argv); \
 } \
 static int mingw_main(c,v)
 
diff --git a/compat/win32/dirent.c b/compat/win32/dirent.c
index 7a0debe51b..52420ec7d4 100644
--- a/compat/win32/dirent.c
+++ b/compat/win32/dirent.c
@@ -1,96 +1,81 @@
-#include "../git-compat-util.h"
-#include "dirent.h"
+#include "../../git-compat-util.h"
 
 struct DIR {
 	struct dirent dd_dir; /* includes d_type */
 	HANDLE dd_handle;     /* FindFirstFile handle */
 	int dd_stat;          /* 0-based index */
-	char dd_name[1];      /* extend struct */
 };
 
+static inline void finddata2dirent(struct dirent *ent, WIN32_FIND_DATAW *fdata)
+{
+	/* convert UTF-16 name to UTF-8 */
+	xwcstoutf(ent->d_name, fdata->cFileName, sizeof(ent->d_name));
+
+	/* Set file type, based on WIN32_FIND_DATA */
+	if (fdata->dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)
+		ent->d_type = DT_DIR;
+	else
+		ent->d_type = DT_REG;
+}
+
 DIR *opendir(const char *name)
 {
-	DWORD attrs = GetFileAttributesA(name);
+	wchar_t pattern[MAX_PATH + 2]; /* + 2 for '/' '*' */
+	WIN32_FIND_DATAW fdata;
+	HANDLE h;
 	int len;
-	DIR *p;
+	DIR *dir;
 
-	/* check for valid path */
-	if (attrs == INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES) {
-		errno = ENOENT;
+	/* convert name to UTF-16 and check length < MAX_PATH */
+	if ((len = xutftowcs_path(pattern, name)) < 0)
+		return NULL;
+
+	/* append optional '/' and wildcard '*' */
+	if (len && !is_dir_sep(pattern[len - 1]))
+		pattern[len++] = '/';
+	pattern[len++] = '*';
+	pattern[len] = 0;
+
+	/* open find handle */
+	h = FindFirstFileW(pattern, &fdata);
+	if (h == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
+		DWORD err = GetLastError();
+		errno = (err == ERROR_DIRECTORY) ? ENOTDIR : err_win_to_posix(err);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	/* check if it's a directory */
-	if (!(attrs & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)) {
-		errno = ENOTDIR;
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
-	/* check that the pattern won't be too long for FindFirstFileA */
-	len = strlen(name);
-	if (is_dir_sep(name[len - 1]))
-		len--;
-	if (len + 2 >= MAX_PATH) {
-		errno = ENAMETOOLONG;
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
-	p = malloc(sizeof(DIR) + len + 2);
-	if (!p)
-		return NULL;
-
-	memset(p, 0, sizeof(DIR) + len + 2);
-	strcpy(p->dd_name, name);
-	p->dd_name[len] = '/';
-	p->dd_name[len+1] = '*';
-
-	p->dd_handle = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
-	return p;
+	/* initialize DIR structure and copy first dir entry */
+	dir = xmalloc(sizeof(DIR));
+	dir->dd_handle = h;
+	dir->dd_stat = 0;
+	finddata2dirent(&dir->dd_dir, &fdata);
+	return dir;
 }
 
 struct dirent *readdir(DIR *dir)
 {
-	WIN32_FIND_DATAA buf;
-	HANDLE handle;
-
-	if (!dir || !dir->dd_handle) {
+	if (!dir) {
 		errno = EBADF; /* No set_errno for mingw */
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	if (dir->dd_handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE && dir->dd_stat == 0) {
-		DWORD lasterr;
-		handle = FindFirstFileA(dir->dd_name, &buf);
-		lasterr = GetLastError();
-		dir->dd_handle = handle;
-		if (handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE && (lasterr != ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES)) {
-			errno = err_win_to_posix(lasterr);
+	/* if first entry, dirent has already been set up by opendir */
+	if (dir->dd_stat) {
+		/* get next entry and convert from WIN32_FIND_DATA to dirent */
+		WIN32_FIND_DATAW fdata;
+		if (FindNextFileW(dir->dd_handle, &fdata)) {
+			finddata2dirent(&dir->dd_dir, &fdata);
+		} else {
+			DWORD lasterr = GetLastError();
+			/* POSIX says you shouldn't set errno when readdir can't
+			   find any more files; so, if another error we leave it set. */
+			if (lasterr != ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES)
+				errno = err_win_to_posix(lasterr);
 			return NULL;
 		}
-	} else if (dir->dd_handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
-		return NULL;
-	} else if (!FindNextFileA(dir->dd_handle, &buf)) {
-		DWORD lasterr = GetLastError();
-		FindClose(dir->dd_handle);
-		dir->dd_handle = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
-		/* POSIX says you shouldn't set errno when readdir can't
-		   find any more files; so, if another error we leave it set. */
-		if (lasterr != ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES)
-			errno = err_win_to_posix(lasterr);
-		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	/* We get here if `buf' contains valid data.  */
-	strcpy(dir->dd_dir.d_name, buf.cFileName);
 	++dir->dd_stat;
-
-	/* Set file type, based on WIN32_FIND_DATA */
-	dir->dd_dir.d_type = 0;
-	if (buf.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY)
-		dir->dd_dir.d_type |= DT_DIR;
-	else
-		dir->dd_dir.d_type |= DT_REG;
-
 	return &dir->dd_dir;
 }
 
@@ -101,8 +86,7 @@ int closedir(DIR *dir)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	if (dir->dd_handle != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
-		FindClose(dir->dd_handle);
+	FindClose(dir->dd_handle);
 	free(dir);
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/compat/win32/dirent.h b/compat/win32/dirent.h
index 927a25ca76..058207e4bf 100644
--- a/compat/win32/dirent.h
+++ b/compat/win32/dirent.h
@@ -9,12 +9,8 @@ typedef struct DIR DIR;
 #define DT_LNK     3
 
 struct dirent {
-	long d_ino;                      /* Always zero. */
-	char d_name[FILENAME_MAX];       /* File name. */
-	union {
-		unsigned short d_reclen; /* Always zero. */
-		unsigned char  d_type;   /* Reimplementation adds this */
-	};
+	unsigned char d_type;      /* file type to prevent lstat after readdir */
+	char d_name[MAX_PATH * 3]; /* file name (* 3 for UTF-8 conversion) */
 };
 
 DIR *opendir(const char *dirname);
diff --git a/compat/winansi.c b/compat/winansi.c
index dedce2104e..13bc28dd33 100644
--- a/compat/winansi.c
+++ b/compat/winansi.c
@@ -2,15 +2,10 @@
  * Copyright 2008 Peter Harris <git@peter.is-a-geek.org>
  */
 
+#undef NOGDI
 #include "../git-compat-util.h"
-
-/*
- Functions to be wrapped:
-*/
-#undef printf
-#undef fprintf
-#undef fputs
-/* TODO: write */
+#include <wingdi.h>
+#include <winreg.h>
 
 /*
  ANSI codes used by git: m, K
@@ -23,29 +18,115 @@ static HANDLE console;
 static WORD plain_attr;
 static WORD attr;
 static int negative;
+static int non_ascii_used = 0;
+static HANDLE hthread, hread, hwrite;
+static HANDLE hwrite1 = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE, hwrite2 = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
+static HANDLE hconsole1, hconsole2;
 
-static void init(void)
+#ifdef __MINGW32__
+typedef struct _CONSOLE_FONT_INFOEX {
+	ULONG cbSize;
+	DWORD nFont;
+	COORD dwFontSize;
+	UINT FontFamily;
+	UINT FontWeight;
+	WCHAR FaceName[LF_FACESIZE];
+} CONSOLE_FONT_INFOEX, *PCONSOLE_FONT_INFOEX;
+#endif
+
+typedef BOOL (WINAPI *PGETCURRENTCONSOLEFONTEX)(HANDLE, BOOL,
+		PCONSOLE_FONT_INFOEX);
+
+static void warn_if_raster_font(void)
 {
-	CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO sbi;
+	DWORD fontFamily = 0;
+	PGETCURRENTCONSOLEFONTEX pGetCurrentConsoleFontEx;
 
-	static int initialized = 0;
-	if (initialized)
+	/* don't bother if output was ascii only */
+	if (!non_ascii_used)
 		return;
 
-	console = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
-	if (console == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
-		console = NULL;
+	/* GetCurrentConsoleFontEx is available since Vista */
+	pGetCurrentConsoleFontEx = (PGETCURRENTCONSOLEFONTEX) GetProcAddress(
+			GetModuleHandle("kernel32.dll"),
+			"GetCurrentConsoleFontEx");
+	if (pGetCurrentConsoleFontEx) {
+		CONSOLE_FONT_INFOEX cfi;
+		cfi.cbSize = sizeof(cfi);
+		if (pGetCurrentConsoleFontEx(console, 0, &cfi))
+			fontFamily = cfi.FontFamily;
+	} else {
+		/* pre-Vista: check default console font in registry */
+		HKEY hkey;
+		if (ERROR_SUCCESS == RegOpenKeyExA(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, "Console",
+				0, KEY_READ, &hkey)) {
+			DWORD size = sizeof(fontFamily);
+			RegQueryValueExA(hkey, "FontFamily", NULL, NULL,
+					(LPVOID) &fontFamily, &size);
+			RegCloseKey(hkey);
+		}
+	}
 
-	if (!console)
-		return;
-
-	GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo(console, &sbi);
-	attr = plain_attr = sbi.wAttributes;
-	negative = 0;
-
-	initialized = 1;
+	if (!(fontFamily & TMPF_TRUETYPE)) {
+		const wchar_t *msg = L"\nWarning: Your console font probably "
+			L"doesn\'t support Unicode. If you experience strange "
+			L"characters in the output, consider switching to a "
+			L"TrueType font such as Lucida Console!\n";
+		DWORD dummy;
+		WriteConsoleW(console, msg, wcslen(msg), &dummy, NULL);
+	}
 }
 
+static int is_console(int fd)
+{
+	CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO sbi;
+	HANDLE hcon;
+
+	static int initialized = 0;
+
+	/* get OS handle of the file descriptor */
+	hcon = (HANDLE) _get_osfhandle(fd);
+	if (hcon == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+		return 0;
+
+	/* check if its a device (i.e. console, printer, serial port) */
+	if (GetFileType(hcon) != FILE_TYPE_CHAR)
+		return 0;
+
+	/* check if its a handle to a console output screen buffer */
+	if (!GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo(hcon, &sbi))
+		return 0;
+
+	/* initialize attributes */
+	if (!initialized) {
+		console = hcon;
+		attr = plain_attr = sbi.wAttributes;
+		negative = 0;
+		initialized = 1;
+	}
+
+	return 1;
+}
+
+#define BUFFER_SIZE 4096
+#define MAX_PARAMS 16
+
+static void write_console(unsigned char *str, size_t len)
+{
+	/* only called from console_thread, so a static buffer will do */
+	static wchar_t wbuf[2 * BUFFER_SIZE + 1];
+	DWORD dummy;
+
+	/* convert utf-8 to utf-16 */
+	int wlen = xutftowcsn(wbuf, (char*) str, ARRAY_SIZE(wbuf), len);
+
+	/* write directly to console */
+	WriteConsoleW(console, wbuf, wlen, &dummy, NULL);
+
+	/* remember if non-ascii characters are printed */
+	if (wlen != len)
+		non_ascii_used = 1;
+}
 
 #define FOREGROUND_ALL (FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE)
 #define BACKGROUND_ALL (BACKGROUND_RED | BACKGROUND_GREEN | BACKGROUND_BLUE)
@@ -90,18 +171,13 @@ static void erase_in_line(void)
 		&dummy);
 }
 
-
-static const char *set_attr(const char *str)
+static void set_attr(char func, const int *params, int paramlen)
 {
-	const char *func;
-	size_t len = strspn(str, "0123456789;");
-	func = str + len;
-
-	switch (*func) {
+	int i;
+	switch (func) {
 	case 'm':
-		do {
-			long val = strtol(str, (char **)&str, 10);
-			switch (val) {
+		for (i = 0; i < paramlen; i++) {
+			switch (params[i]) {
 			case 0: /* reset */
 				attr = plain_attr;
 				negative = 0;
@@ -224,9 +300,7 @@ static const char *set_attr(const char *str)
 				/* Unsupported code */
 				break;
 			}
-			str++;
-		} while (*(str-1) == ';');
-
+		}
 		set_console_attr();
 		break;
 	case 'K':
@@ -236,122 +310,281 @@ static const char *set_attr(const char *str)
 		/* Unsupported code */
 		break;
 	}
-
-	return func + 1;
 }
 
-static int ansi_emulate(const char *str, FILE *stream)
+enum {
+	TEXT = 0, ESCAPE = 033, BRACKET = '['
+};
+
+static DWORD WINAPI console_thread(LPVOID unused)
 {
-	int rv = 0;
-	const char *pos = str;
+	unsigned char buffer[BUFFER_SIZE];
+	DWORD bytes;
+	int start, end = 0, c, parampos = 0, state = TEXT;
+	int params[MAX_PARAMS];
 
-	while (*pos) {
-		pos = strstr(str, "\033[");
-		if (pos) {
-			size_t len = pos - str;
+	while (1) {
+		/* read next chunk of bytes from the pipe */
+		if (!ReadFile(hread, buffer + end, BUFFER_SIZE - end, &bytes,
+				NULL)) {
+			/* exit if pipe has been closed or disconnected */
+			if (GetLastError() == ERROR_PIPE_NOT_CONNECTED ||
+					GetLastError() == ERROR_BROKEN_PIPE)
+				break;
+			/* ignore other errors */
+			continue;
+		}
 
-			if (len) {
-				size_t out_len = fwrite(str, 1, len, stream);
-				rv += out_len;
-				if (out_len < len)
-					return rv;
+		/* scan the bytes and handle ANSI control codes */
+		bytes += end;
+		start = end = 0;
+		while (end < bytes) {
+			c = buffer[end++];
+			switch (state) {
+			case TEXT:
+				if (c == ESCAPE) {
+					/* print text seen so far */
+					if (end - 1 > start)
+						write_console(buffer + start,
+							end - 1 - start);
+
+					/* then start parsing escape sequence */
+					start = end - 1;
+					memset(params, 0, sizeof(params));
+					parampos = 0;
+					state = ESCAPE;
+				}
+				break;
+
+			case ESCAPE:
+				/* continue if "\033[", otherwise bail out */
+				state = (c == BRACKET) ? BRACKET : TEXT;
+				break;
+
+			case BRACKET:
+				/* parse [0-9;]* into array of parameters */
+				if (c >= '0' && c <= '9') {
+					params[parampos] *= 10;
+					params[parampos] += c - '0';
+				} else if (c == ';') {
+					/*
+					 * next parameter, bail out if out of
+					 * bounds
+					 */
+					parampos++;
+					if (parampos >= MAX_PARAMS)
+						state = TEXT;
+				} else {
+					/*
+					 * end of escape sequence, change
+					 * console attributes
+					 */
+					set_attr(c, params, parampos + 1);
+					start = end;
+					state = TEXT;
+				}
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+
+		/* print remaining text unless parsing an escape sequence */
+		if (state == TEXT && end > start) {
+			/* check for incomplete UTF-8 sequences and fix end */
+			if (buffer[end - 1] >= 0x80) {
+				if (buffer[end -1] >= 0xc0)
+					end--;
+				else if (end - 1 > start &&
+						buffer[end - 2] >= 0xe0)
+					end -= 2;
+				else if (end - 2 > start &&
+						buffer[end - 3] >= 0xf0)
+					end -= 3;
 			}
 
-			str = pos + 2;
-			rv += 2;
+			/* print remaining complete UTF-8 sequences */
+			if (end > start)
+				write_console(buffer + start, end - start);
 
-			fflush(stream);
-
-			pos = set_attr(str);
-			rv += pos - str;
-			str = pos;
+			/* move remaining bytes to the front */
+			if (end < bytes)
+				memmove(buffer, buffer + end, bytes - end);
+			end = bytes - end;
 		} else {
-			rv += strlen(str);
-			fputs(str, stream);
-			return rv;
+			/* all data has been consumed, mark buffer empty */
+			end = 0;
 		}
 	}
-	return rv;
+
+	/* check if the console font supports unicode */
+	warn_if_raster_font();
+
+	CloseHandle(hread);
+	return 0;
 }
 
-int winansi_fputs(const char *str, FILE *stream)
+static void winansi_exit(void)
 {
-	int rv;
+	/* flush all streams */
+	_flushall();
 
-	if (!isatty(fileno(stream)))
-		return fputs(str, stream);
+	/* signal console thread to exit */
+	FlushFileBuffers(hwrite);
+	DisconnectNamedPipe(hwrite);
 
-	init();
+	/* wait for console thread to copy remaining data */
+	WaitForSingleObject(hthread, INFINITE);
 
-	if (!console)
-		return fputs(str, stream);
-
-	rv = ansi_emulate(str, stream);
-
-	if (rv >= 0)
-		return 0;
-	else
-		return EOF;
+	/* cleanup handles... */
+	if (hwrite1 != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+		CloseHandle(hwrite1);
+	if (hwrite2 != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+		CloseHandle(hwrite2);
+	CloseHandle(hwrite);
+	CloseHandle(hthread);
 }
 
-static int winansi_vfprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format, va_list list)
+static void die_lasterr(const char *fmt, ...)
 {
-	int len, rv;
-	char small_buf[256];
-	char *buf = small_buf;
-	va_list cp;
+	va_list params;
+	va_start(params, fmt);
+	errno = err_win_to_posix(GetLastError());
+	die_errno(fmt, params);
+	va_end(params);
+}
 
-	if (!isatty(fileno(stream)))
-		goto abort;
+static HANDLE duplicate_handle(HANDLE hnd)
+{
+	HANDLE hresult, hproc = GetCurrentProcess();
+	if (!DuplicateHandle(hproc, hnd, hproc, &hresult, 0, TRUE,
+			DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS))
+		die_lasterr("DuplicateHandle(%li) failed", (long) hnd);
+	return hresult;
+}
 
-	init();
 
-	if (!console)
-		goto abort;
+/*
+ * Make MSVCRT's internal file descriptor control structure accessible
+ * so that we can tweak OS handles and flags directly (we need MSVCRT
+ * to treat our pipe handle as if it were a console).
+ *
+ * We assume that the ioinfo structure (exposed by MSVCRT.dll via
+ * __pioinfo) starts with the OS handle and the flags. The exact size
+ * varies between MSVCRT versions, so we try different sizes until
+ * toggling the FDEV bit of _pioinfo(1)->osflags is reflected in
+ * isatty(1).
+ */
+typedef struct {
+	HANDLE osfhnd;
+	char osflags;
+} ioinfo;
 
-	va_copy(cp, list);
-	len = vsnprintf(small_buf, sizeof(small_buf), format, cp);
-	va_end(cp);
+extern __declspec(dllimport) ioinfo *__pioinfo[];
 
-	if (len > sizeof(small_buf) - 1) {
-		buf = malloc(len + 1);
-		if (!buf)
-			goto abort;
+static size_t sizeof_ioinfo = 0;
 
-		len = vsnprintf(buf, len + 1, format, list);
+#define IOINFO_L2E 5
+#define IOINFO_ARRAY_ELTS (1 << IOINFO_L2E)
+
+#define FDEV  0x40
+
+static inline ioinfo* _pioinfo(int fd)
+{
+	return (ioinfo*)((char*)__pioinfo[fd >> IOINFO_L2E] +
+			(fd & (IOINFO_ARRAY_ELTS - 1)) * sizeof_ioinfo);
+}
+
+static int init_sizeof_ioinfo()
+{
+	int istty, wastty;
+	/* don't init twice */
+	if (sizeof_ioinfo)
+		return sizeof_ioinfo >= 256;
+
+	sizeof_ioinfo = sizeof(ioinfo);
+	wastty = isatty(1);
+	while (sizeof_ioinfo < 256) {
+		/* toggle FDEV flag, check isatty, then toggle back */
+		_pioinfo(1)->osflags ^= FDEV;
+		istty = isatty(1);
+		_pioinfo(1)->osflags ^= FDEV;
+		/* return if we found the correct size */
+		if (istty != wastty)
+			return 0;
+		sizeof_ioinfo += sizeof(void*);
 	}
-
-	rv = ansi_emulate(buf, stream);
-
-	if (buf != small_buf)
-		free(buf);
-	return rv;
-
-abort:
-	rv = vfprintf(stream, format, list);
-	return rv;
+	error("Tweaking file descriptors doesn't work with this MSVCRT.dll");
+	return 1;
 }
 
-int winansi_fprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format, ...)
+static HANDLE swap_osfhnd(int fd, HANDLE new_handle)
 {
-	va_list list;
-	int rv;
+	ioinfo *pioinfo;
+	HANDLE old_handle;
 
-	va_start(list, format);
-	rv = winansi_vfprintf(stream, format, list);
-	va_end(list);
+	/* init ioinfo size if we haven't done so */
+	if (init_sizeof_ioinfo())
+		return INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
 
-	return rv;
+	/* get ioinfo pointer and change the handles */
+	pioinfo = _pioinfo(fd);
+	old_handle = pioinfo->osfhnd;
+	pioinfo->osfhnd = new_handle;
+	return old_handle;
 }
 
-int winansi_printf(const char *format, ...)
+void winansi_init(void)
 {
-	va_list list;
-	int rv;
+	int con1, con2;
+	char name[32];
 
-	va_start(list, format);
-	rv = winansi_vfprintf(stdout, format, list);
-	va_end(list);
+	/* check if either stdout or stderr is a console output screen buffer */
+	con1 = is_console(1);
+	con2 = is_console(2);
+	if (!con1 && !con2)
+		return;
 
-	return rv;
+	/* create a named pipe to communicate with the console thread */
+	sprintf(name, "\\\\.\\pipe\\winansi%lu", GetCurrentProcessId());
+	hwrite = CreateNamedPipe(name, PIPE_ACCESS_OUTBOUND,
+		PIPE_TYPE_BYTE | PIPE_WAIT, 1, BUFFER_SIZE, 0, 0, NULL);
+	if (hwrite == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+		die_lasterr("CreateNamedPipe failed");
+
+	hread = CreateFile(name, GENERIC_READ, 0, NULL, OPEN_EXISTING, 0, NULL);
+	if (hread == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+		die_lasterr("CreateFile for named pipe failed");
+
+	/* start console spool thread on the pipe's read end */
+	hthread = CreateThread(NULL, 0, console_thread, NULL, 0, NULL);
+	if (hthread == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+		die_lasterr("CreateThread(console_thread) failed");
+
+	/* schedule cleanup routine */
+	if (atexit(winansi_exit))
+		die_errno("atexit(winansi_exit) failed");
+
+	/* redirect stdout / stderr to the pipe */
+	if (con1)
+		hconsole1 = swap_osfhnd(1, hwrite1 = duplicate_handle(hwrite));
+	if (con2)
+		hconsole2 = swap_osfhnd(2, hwrite2 = duplicate_handle(hwrite));
+}
+
+static int is_same_handle(HANDLE hnd, int fd)
+{
+	return hnd != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE && hnd == (HANDLE) _get_osfhandle(fd);
+}
+
+/*
+ * Returns the real console handle if stdout / stderr is a pipe redirecting
+ * to the console. Allows spawn / exec to pass the console to the next process.
+ */
+HANDLE winansi_get_osfhandle(int fd)
+{
+	if (fd == 1 && is_same_handle(hwrite1, 1))
+		return hconsole1;
+	else if (fd == 2 && is_same_handle(hwrite2, 2))
+		return hconsole2;
+	else
+		return (HANDLE) _get_osfhandle(fd);
 }
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index eebc847b81..5e17944f5d 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -325,7 +325,6 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	NO_IPV6 = YesPlease
 	NO_UNIX_SOCKETS = YesPlease
 	NO_SETENV = YesPlease
-	NO_UNSETENV = YesPlease
 	NO_STRCASESTR = YesPlease
 	NO_STRLCPY = YesPlease
 	NO_FNMATCH = YesPlease
@@ -356,6 +355,7 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	NO_POSIX_GOODIES = UnfortunatelyYes
 	NATIVE_CRLF = YesPlease
 	DEFAULT_HELP_FORMAT = html
+	NO_D_INO_IN_DIRENT = YesPlease
 
 	CC = compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
 	AR = compat/vcbuild/scripts/lib.pl
@@ -482,7 +482,6 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	NO_SYMLINK_HEAD = YesPlease
 	NO_UNIX_SOCKETS = YesPlease
 	NO_SETENV = YesPlease
-	NO_UNSETENV = YesPlease
 	NO_STRCASESTR = YesPlease
 	NO_STRLCPY = YesPlease
 	NO_FNMATCH = YesPlease
@@ -508,6 +507,7 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	NO_INET_NTOP = YesPlease
 	NO_POSIX_GOODIES = UnfortunatelyYes
 	DEFAULT_HELP_FORMAT = html
+	NO_D_INO_IN_DIRENT = YesPlease
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -D_USE_32BIT_TIME_T -DNOGDI -Icompat -Icompat/win32
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
 	COMPAT_OBJS += compat/mingw.o compat/winansi.o \
diff --git a/git-gui/git-gui.sh b/git-gui/git-gui.sh
index cf2209b4f2..4b79862cab 100755
--- a/git-gui/git-gui.sh
+++ b/git-gui/git-gui.sh
@@ -548,6 +548,9 @@ proc git {args} {
 
 	_trace_exec [concat $opt $cmdp $args]
 	set result [eval exec $opt $cmdp $args]
+	if {[encoding system] != "utf-8"} {
+		set result [encoding convertfrom utf-8 [encoding convertto $result]]
+	}
 	if {$::_trace} {
 		puts stderr "< $result"
 	}
@@ -1104,7 +1107,7 @@ git-version proc _parse_config {arr_name args} {
 				[list git_read config] \
 				$args \
 				[list --null --list]]
-			fconfigure $fd_rc -translation binary
+			fconfigure $fd_rc -translation binary -encoding utf-8
 			set buf [read $fd_rc]
 			close $fd_rc
 		}
@@ -1678,7 +1681,7 @@ proc read_diff_index {fd after} {
 		set i [split [string range $buf_rdi $c [expr {$z1 - 2}]] { }]
 		set p [string range $buf_rdi $z1 [expr {$z2 - 1}]]
 		merge_state \
-			[encoding convertfrom $p] \
+			[encoding convertfrom utf-8 $p] \
 			[lindex $i 4]? \
 			[list [lindex $i 0] [lindex $i 2]] \
 			[list]
@@ -1711,7 +1714,7 @@ proc read_diff_files {fd after} {
 		set i [split [string range $buf_rdf $c [expr {$z1 - 2}]] { }]
 		set p [string range $buf_rdf $z1 [expr {$z2 - 1}]]
 		merge_state \
-			[encoding convertfrom $p] \
+			[encoding convertfrom utf-8 $p] \
 			?[lindex $i 4] \
 			[list] \
 			[list [lindex $i 0] [lindex $i 2]]
@@ -1734,7 +1737,7 @@ proc read_ls_others {fd after} {
 	set pck [split $buf_rlo "\0"]
 	set buf_rlo [lindex $pck end]
 	foreach p [lrange $pck 0 end-1] {
-		set p [encoding convertfrom $p]
+		set p [encoding convertfrom utf-8 $p]
 		if {[string index $p end] eq {/}} {
 			set p [string range $p 0 end-1]
 		}
diff --git a/git-gui/lib/browser.tcl b/git-gui/lib/browser.tcl
index 0328338fda..555db896f4 100644
--- a/git-gui/lib/browser.tcl
+++ b/git-gui/lib/browser.tcl
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ method _ls {tree_id {name {}}} {
 	$w conf -state disabled
 
 	set fd [git_read ls-tree -z $tree_id]
-	fconfigure $fd -blocking 0 -translation binary -encoding binary
+	fconfigure $fd -blocking 0 -translation binary -encoding utf-8
 	fileevent $fd readable [cb _read $fd]
 }
 
diff --git a/git-gui/lib/index.tcl b/git-gui/lib/index.tcl
index 74a81a7b42..d10ffe9209 100644
--- a/git-gui/lib/index.tcl
+++ b/git-gui/lib/index.tcl
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ proc write_update_indexinfo {fd pathList totalCnt batch after} {
 		set info [lindex $s 2]
 		if {$info eq {}} continue
 
-		puts -nonewline $fd "$info\t[encoding convertto $path]\0"
+		puts -nonewline $fd "$info\t[encoding convertto utf-8 $path]\0"
 		display_file $path $new
 	}
 
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ proc write_update_index {fd pathList totalCnt batch after} {
 		?M {set new M_}
 		?? {continue}
 		}
-		puts -nonewline $fd "[encoding convertto $path]\0"
+		puts -nonewline $fd "[encoding convertto utf-8 $path]\0"
 		display_file $path $new
 	}
 
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ proc write_checkout_index {fd pathList totalCnt batch after} {
 		?M -
 		?T -
 		?D {
-			puts -nonewline $fd "[encoding convertto $path]\0"
+			puts -nonewline $fd "[encoding convertto utf-8 $path]\0"
 			display_file $path ?_
 		}
 		}
diff --git a/gitk-git/gitk b/gitk-git/gitk
index 90764e8948..9232258249 100755
--- a/gitk-git/gitk
+++ b/gitk-git/gitk
@@ -7525,7 +7525,7 @@ proc gettreeline {gtf id} {
 	if {[string index $fname 0] eq "\""} {
 	    set fname [lindex $fname 0]
 	}
-	set fname [encoding convertfrom $fname]
+	set fname [encoding convertfrom utf-8 $fname]
 	lappend treefilelist($id) $fname
     }
     if {![eof $gtf]} {
@@ -7784,7 +7784,7 @@ proc gettreediffline {gdtf ids} {
 	    if {[string index $file 0] eq "\""} {
 		set file [lindex $file 0]
 	    }
-	    set file [encoding convertfrom $file]
+	    set file [encoding convertfrom utf-8 $file]
 	    if {$file ne [lindex $treediff end]} {
 		lappend treediff $file
 		lappend sublist $file
@@ -7929,7 +7929,7 @@ proc makediffhdr {fname ids} {
     global ctext curdiffstart treediffs diffencoding
     global ctext_file_names jump_to_here targetline diffline
 
-    set fname [encoding convertfrom $fname]
+    set fname [encoding convertfrom utf-8 $fname]
     set diffencoding [get_path_encoding $fname]
     set i [lsearch -exact $treediffs($ids) $fname]
     if {$i >= 0} {
@@ -7986,7 +7986,7 @@ proc parseblobdiffline {ids line} {
 
     if {![string compare -length 5 "diff " $line]} {
 	if {![regexp {^diff (--cc|--git) } $line m type]} {
-	    set line [encoding convertfrom $line]
+	    set line [encoding convertfrom utf-8 $line]
 	    $ctext insert end "$line\n" hunksep
 	    continue
 	}
@@ -8033,7 +8033,7 @@ proc parseblobdiffline {ids line} {
 	makediffhdr $fname $ids
 
     } elseif {![string compare -length 16 "* Unmerged path " $line]} {
-	set fname [encoding convertfrom [string range $line 16 end]]
+	set fname [encoding convertfrom utf-8 [string range $line 16 end]]
 	$ctext insert end "\n"
 	set curdiffstart [$ctext index "end - 1c"]
 	lappend ctext_file_names $fname
@@ -8088,7 +8088,7 @@ proc parseblobdiffline {ids line} {
 	    if {[string index $fname 0] eq "\""} {
 		set fname [lindex $fname 0]
 	    }
-	    set fname [encoding convertfrom $fname]
+	    set fname [encoding convertfrom utf-8 $fname]
 	    set i [lsearch -exact $treediffs($ids) $fname]
 	    if {$i >= 0} {
 		setinlist difffilestart $i $curdiffstart
@@ -8107,6 +8107,7 @@ proc parseblobdiffline {ids line} {
 	    set diffinhdr 0
 	    return
 	}
+	set line [encoding convertfrom utf-8 $line]
 	$ctext insert end "$line\n" filesep
 
     } else {
@@ -11895,7 +11896,7 @@ proc cache_gitattr {attr pathlist} {
 	    foreach row [split $rlist "\n"] {
 		if {[regexp "(.*): $attr: (.*)" $row m path value]} {
 		    if {[string index $path 0] eq "\""} {
-			set path [encoding convertfrom [lindex $path 0]]
+			set path [encoding convertfrom utf-8 [lindex $path 0]]
 		    }
 		    set path_attr_cache($attr,$path) $value
 		}
diff --git a/http-fetch.c b/http-fetch.c
index ba3ea10670..51b26d7af8 100644
--- a/http-fetch.c
+++ b/http-fetch.c
@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@
 static const char http_fetch_usage[] = "git http-fetch "
 "[-c] [-t] [-a] [-v] [--recover] [-w ref] [--stdin] commit-id url";
 
-int main(int argc, const char **argv)
+int main(int argc, char **av)
 {
 	struct walker *walker;
 	int commits_on_stdin = 0;
 	int commits;
+	const char **argv = (const char **)av;
 	const char **write_ref = NULL;
 	char **commit_id;
 	char *url = NULL;
diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index 10cb0114ea..0a2c718349 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -941,9 +941,10 @@ static void parse_push(struct strbuf *buf)
 	free(specs);
 }
 
-int main(int argc, const char **argv)
+int main(int argc, char **av)
 {
 	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+	const char **argv = (const char **)av;
 	int nongit;
 
 	git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
diff --git a/run-command.c b/run-command.c
index 75abc478c6..f2626f5ba3 100644
--- a/run-command.c
+++ b/run-command.c
@@ -450,7 +450,6 @@ fail_pipe:
 {
 	int fhin = 0, fhout = 1, fherr = 2;
 	const char **sargv = cmd->argv;
-	char **env = environ;
 
 	if (cmd->no_stdin)
 		fhin = open("/dev/null", O_RDWR);
@@ -475,24 +474,19 @@ fail_pipe:
 	else if (cmd->out > 1)
 		fhout = dup(cmd->out);
 
-	if (cmd->env)
-		env = make_augmented_environ(cmd->env);
-
 	if (cmd->git_cmd)
 		cmd->argv = prepare_git_cmd(cmd->argv);
 	else if (cmd->use_shell)
 		cmd->argv = prepare_shell_cmd(cmd->argv);
 
-	cmd->pid = mingw_spawnvpe(cmd->argv[0], cmd->argv, env, cmd->dir,
-				  fhin, fhout, fherr);
+	cmd->pid = mingw_spawnvpe(cmd->argv[0], cmd->argv, (char**) cmd->env,
+			cmd->dir, fhin, fhout, fherr);
 	failed_errno = errno;
 	if (cmd->pid < 0 && (!cmd->silent_exec_failure || errno != ENOENT))
 		error("cannot spawn %s: %s", cmd->argv[0], strerror(errno));
 	if (cmd->clean_on_exit && cmd->pid >= 0)
 		mark_child_for_cleanup(cmd->pid);
 
-	if (cmd->env)
-		free_environ(env);
 	if (cmd->git_cmd)
 		free(cmd->argv);