diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 3427bf4ec8..5148be2328 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -431,6 +431,7 @@ HANDLE winansi_get_osfhandle(int fd);
 	(isalpha(*(path)) && (path)[1] == ':' ? 2 : 0)
 int mingw_skip_dos_drive_prefix(char **path);
 #define skip_dos_drive_prefix mingw_skip_dos_drive_prefix
+#define has_unc_prefix(path) (*(path) == '\\' && (path)[1] == '\\' ? 2 : 0)
 #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 fadd973093..c1e9bb0170 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -348,6 +348,14 @@ static inline int git_skip_dos_drive_prefix(char **path)
 #define skip_dos_drive_prefix git_skip_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 44ceb95746..392d2897c2 100644
--- a/path.c
+++ b/path.c
@@ -991,9 +991,9 @@ const char *remove_leading_path(const char *in, const char *prefix)
 int normalize_path_copy_len(char *dst, const char *src, int *prefix_len)
 {
 	char *dst0;
-	int i;
+	int i = has_unc_prefix(src);
 
-	for (i = has_dos_drive_prefix(src); i > 0; i--)
+	for (i = i ? i : has_dos_drive_prefix(src); i > 0; i--)
 		*dst++ = *src++;
 	dst0 = dst;