diff --git a/compat/win32/dirent.c b/compat/win32/dirent.c
index 7a0debe51b..82a515c21b 100644
--- a/compat/win32/dirent.c
+++ b/compat/win32/dirent.c
@@ -1,96 +1,91 @@
-#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_DATAA *fdata)
+{
+	/* copy file name from WIN32_FIND_DATA to dirent */
+	memcpy(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);
+	char pattern[MAX_PATH];
+	WIN32_FIND_DATAA fdata;
+	HANDLE h;
 	int len;
-	DIR *p;
+	DIR *dir;
 
-	/* check for valid path */
-	if (attrs == INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES) {
-		errno = ENOENT;
+	/* check that name is not NULL */
+	if (!name) {
+		errno = EINVAL;
 		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;
 	}
+	/* copy name to temp buffer */
+	memcpy(pattern, name, len + 1);
 
-	p = malloc(sizeof(DIR) + len + 2);
-	if (!p)
+	/* append optional '/' and wildcard '*' */
+	if (len && !is_dir_sep(pattern[len - 1]))
+		pattern[len++] = '/';
+	pattern[len++] = '*';
+	pattern[len] = 0;
+
+	/* open find handle */
+	h = FindFirstFileA(pattern, &fdata);
+	if (h == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
+		DWORD err = GetLastError();
+		errno = (err == ERROR_DIRECTORY) ? ENOTDIR : err_win_to_posix(err);
 		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_DATAA fdata;
+		if (FindNextFileA(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 +96,7 @@ 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..8838cd61fc 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];     /* file name */
 };
 
 DIR *opendir(const char *dirname);
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 1ae675b053..8131c81985 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -354,6 +354,7 @@ 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
@@ -503,6 +504,7 @@ 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 \