diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index d75f88ca0c..65c19f953b 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1662,9 +1662,11 @@ static int git_config_from_blob_ref(config_fn_t fn,
 
 const char *git_etc_gitconfig(void)
 {
-	static const char *system_wide;
-	if (!system_wide)
+	static char *system_wide;
+	if (!system_wide) {
 		system_wide = system_path(ETC_GITCONFIG);
+		normalize_path_copy(system_wide, system_wide);
+	}
 	return system_wide;
 }
 
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index dec4a17ce3..d40acf0b98 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -424,6 +424,11 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	NO_POSIX_GOODIES = UnfortunatelyYes
 	NATIVE_CRLF = YesPlease
 	DEFAULT_HELP_FORMAT = html
+ifeq (/mingw64,$(subst 32,64,$(prefix)))
+	# Move system config into top-level /etc/
+	ETC_GITCONFIG = ../etc/gitconfig
+	ETC_GITATTRIBUTES = ../etc/gitattributes
+endif
 
 	CC = compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
 	AR = compat/vcbuild/scripts/lib.pl
@@ -668,6 +673,11 @@ else
 		USE_LIBPCRE = YesPlease
 		NO_CURL =
 		USE_NED_ALLOCATOR = YesPlease
+		ifeq (/mingw64,$(subst 32,64,$(prefix)))
+			# Move system config into top-level /etc/
+			ETC_GITCONFIG = ../etc/gitconfig
+			ETC_GITATTRIBUTES = ../etc/gitattributes
+		endif
 	else
 		COMPAT_CFLAGS += -D__USE_MINGW_ANSI_STDIO
 		NO_CURL = YesPlease