diff --git a/src/utils/error.c b/src/utils/error.c
index fee3577e1..ceb0b0cdf 100644
--- a/src/utils/error.c
+++ b/src/utils/error.c
@@ -30,7 +30,12 @@ void perror_fatal(const char *s) {
 void perror_fatal_code(const char *s, int err) {
   char buffer[64];
   
+#ifdef MINGW
+  fprintf(stderr, "%s: %s\n", s, strerror(err));
+#else
   strerror_r(err, buffer, sizeof(buffer));
   fprintf(stderr, "%s: %s\n", s, buffer);
+#endif
+
   exit(YICES_EXIT_INTERNAL_ERROR);
 }