diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9a540904a0..dfb24d6599 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3929,12 +3929,15 @@ ifdef MSVC
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.o,%.o.pdb,$(OBJECTS))
 	$(RM) headless-git.o.pdb
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ilk,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ilk,$(PROGRAMS))
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(PROGRAMS))
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(PROGRAMS))
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ilk,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
 	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
 	$(RM) compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat b/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
index b35d264c0e..379b16296e 100644
--- a/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ REM ================================================================
 
    SET sdk_dir=%WindowsSdkDir%
    SET sdk_ver=%WindowsSDKVersion%
+   SET sdk_ver_bin_dir=%WindowsSdkVerBinPath%%tgt%
    SET si=%sdk_dir%Include\%sdk_ver%
    SET sdk_includes=-I"%si%ucrt" -I"%si%um" -I"%si%shared"
    SET sl=%sdk_dir%lib\%sdk_ver%
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ REM ================================================================
 
    SET sdk_dir=%WindowsSdkDir%
    SET sdk_ver=%WindowsSDKVersion%
+   SET sdk_ver_bin_dir=%WindowsSdkVerBinPath%bin\amd64
    SET si=%sdk_dir%Include\%sdk_ver%
    SET sdk_includes=-I"%si%ucrt" -I"%si%um" -I"%si%shared" -I"%si%winrt"
    SET sl=%sdk_dir%lib\%sdk_ver%
@@ -160,6 +162,11 @@ REM ================================================================
    echo msvc_includes=%msvc_includes%
    echo msvc_libs=%msvc_libs%
 
+   echo sdk_ver_bin_dir=%sdk_ver_bin_dir%
+   SET X1=%sdk_ver_bin_dir:C:=/C%
+   SET X2=%X1:\=/%
+   echo sdk_ver_bin_dir_msys=%X2%
+
    echo sdk_includes=%sdk_includes%
    echo sdk_libs=%sdk_libs%
 
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
index c4c99d1a11..677d44e46f 100755
--- a/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ my @cflags = ();
 my @lflags = ();
 my $is_linking = 0;
 my $is_debug = 0;
+my $is_gui = 0;
 while (@ARGV) {
 	my $arg = shift @ARGV;
 	if ("$arg" eq "-DDEBUG") {
@@ -67,7 +68,11 @@ while (@ARGV) {
 		}
 		push(@args, $lib);
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lexpat") {
+	    if ($is_debug) {
+		push(@args, "libexpatd.lib");
+	    } else {
 		push(@args, "libexpat.lib");
+	    }
 	} elsif ("$arg" =~ /^-L/ && "$arg" ne "-LTCG") {
 		$arg =~ s/^-L/-LIBPATH:/;
 		push(@lflags, $arg);
@@ -119,11 +124,23 @@ while (@ARGV) {
 		push(@cflags, "-wd4996");
 	} elsif ("$arg" =~ /^-W[a-z]/) {
 		# let's ignore those
+	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-fno-stack-protector") {
+		# eat this
+	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-mwindows") {
+		$is_gui = 1;
 	} else {
 		push(@args, $arg);
 	}
 }
 if ($is_linking) {
+	if ($is_gui) {
+		push(@args, "-ENTRY:wWinMainCRTStartup");
+		push(@args, "-SUBSYSTEM:WINDOWS");
+	} else {
+		push(@args, "-ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup");
+		push(@args, "-SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE");
+	}
+
 	push(@args, @lflags);
 	unshift(@args, "link.exe");
 } else {
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/scripts/rc.pl b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/rc.pl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7bca4cd81c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/rc.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl -w
+######################################################################
+# Compile Resources on Windows
+#
+# This is a wrapper to facilitate the compilation of Git with MSVC
+# using GNU Make as the build system. So, instead of manipulating the
+# Makefile into something nasty, just to support non-space arguments
+# etc, we use this wrapper to fix the command line options
+#
+######################################################################
+use strict;
+my @args = ();
+my @input = ();
+
+while (@ARGV) {
+	my $arg = shift @ARGV;
+	if ("$arg" =~ /^-[dD]/) {
+		# GIT_VERSION gets passed with too many
+		# layers of dquote escaping.
+		$arg =~ s/\\"/"/g;
+
+		push(@args, $arg);
+
+	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-i") {
+		my $arg = shift @ARGV;
+		# TODO complain if NULL or is dashed ??
+		push(@input, $arg);
+
+	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-o") {
+		my $arg = shift @ARGV;
+		# TODO complain if NULL or is dashed ??
+		push(@args, "-fo$arg");
+
+	} else {
+		push(@args, $arg);
+	}
+}
+
+push(@args, "-nologo");
+push(@args, "-v");
+push(@args, @input);
+
+unshift(@args, "rc.exe");
+printf("**** @args\n");
+
+exit (system(@args) != 0);
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 2fec54c01f..086c91e0ae 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	# link.exe next to, and required by, cl.exe, we have to prepend this
 	# onto the existing $PATH.
 	#
-	SANE_TOOL_PATH ?= $(msvc_bin_dir_msys)
+	SANE_TOOL_PATH ?= $(msvc_bin_dir_msys):$(sdk_ver_bin_dir_msys)
 	HAVE_ALLOCA_H = YesPlease
 	NO_PREAD = YesPlease
 	NEEDS_CRYPTO_WITH_SSL = YesPlease
@@ -513,12 +513,14 @@ endif
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DDETECT_MSYS_TTY \
 		-DENSURE_MSYSTEM_IS_SET="\"$(MSYSTEM)\"" -DMINGW_PREFIX="\"$(patsubst /%,%,$(MINGW_PREFIX))\"" \
 		-DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
-	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO
 	# invalidcontinue.obj allows Git's source code to close the same file
 	# handle twice, or to access the osfhandle of an already-closed stdout
 	# See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235330.aspx
 	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj kernel32.lib ntdll.lib
+	GITLIBS += git.res
 	PTHREAD_LIBS =
+	RC = compat/vcbuild/scripts/rc.pl
 	lib =
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_inc) $(sdk_includes) $(msvc_includes)
 ifndef DEBUG
diff --git a/contrib/buildsystems/CMakeLists.txt b/contrib/buildsystems/CMakeLists.txt
index abe2e364e6..ced72ef43a 100644
--- a/contrib/buildsystems/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/contrib/buildsystems/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -761,6 +761,7 @@ if(WIN32)
 	endif()
 
 	add_executable(headless-git ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/compat/win32/headless.c)
+	list(APPEND PROGRAMS_BUILT headless-git)
 	if(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU" OR CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "Clang")
 		target_link_options(headless-git PUBLIC -municode -Wl,-subsystem,windows)
 	elseif(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "MSVC")
@@ -961,7 +962,7 @@ list(TRANSFORM git_perl_scripts PREPEND "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/")
 
 #install
 foreach(program ${PROGRAMS_BUILT})
-if(program MATCHES "^(git|git-shell|scalar)$")
+if(program MATCHES "^(git|git-shell|headless-git|scalar)$")
 install(TARGETS ${program}
 	RUNTIME DESTINATION bin)
 else()