diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 2d44d21aca8..a67872babf3 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -761,6 +761,17 @@ revert_attrs:
 	return rc;
 }
 
+#undef strftime
+size_t mingw_strftime(char *s, size_t max,
+		      const char *format, const struct tm *tm)
+{
+	size_t ret = strftime(s, max, format, tm);
+
+	if (!ret && errno == EINVAL)
+		die("invalid strftime format: '%s'", format);
+	return ret;
+}
+
 unsigned int sleep (unsigned int seconds)
 {
 	Sleep(seconds*1000);
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index e03aecfe2e6..571019d0bdd 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -361,6 +361,9 @@ int mingw_fstat(int fd, struct stat *buf);
 
 int mingw_utime(const char *file_name, const struct utimbuf *times);
 #define utime mingw_utime
+size_t mingw_strftime(char *s, size_t max,
+		   const char *format, const struct tm *tm);
+#define strftime mingw_strftime
 
 pid_t mingw_spawnvpe(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **env,
 		     const char *dir,