diff --git a/compat/fsmonitor/fsmonitor-fs-listen-win32.c b/compat/fsmonitor/fsmonitor-fs-listen-win32.c
index ba087b292d..3b42ab311d 100644
--- a/compat/fsmonitor/fsmonitor-fs-listen-win32.c
+++ b/compat/fsmonitor/fsmonitor-fs-listen-win32.c
@@ -111,8 +111,14 @@ static struct one_watch *create_watch(struct fsmonitor_daemon_state *state,
 	DWORD share_mode =
 		FILE_SHARE_WRITE | FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_DELETE;
 	HANDLE hDir;
+	wchar_t wpath[MAX_PATH];
 
-	hDir = CreateFileA(path,
+	if (xutftowcs_long_path(wpath, path) < 0) {
+		error(_("could not convert to wide characters: '%s'"), path);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	hDir = CreateFileW(wpath,
 			   desired_access, share_mode, NULL, OPEN_EXISTING,
 			   FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS | FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED,
 			   NULL);