diff --git a/configure b/configure
index de41b5d54..12e47b468 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -15791,7 +15791,14 @@ else
 fi
 
 
-srcdir=`cd $srcdir && pwd`
+case "$host" in
+    *-*-mingw32*)
+        # Except on msys, where make can't handle full pathnames (bug 1972)
+        ;;
+    *)
+        srcdir=`cd $srcdir && pwd`
+        ;;
+esac
 
 INCLUDE="-I$srcdir/include"
 if test x$srcdir != x.; then
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index d1cf8e152..252efe4be 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -58,7 +58,14 @@ AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 AC_CHECK_TOOL(WINDRES, [windres], [:])
 
 dnl Make sure that srcdir is a full pathname
-srcdir=`cd $srcdir && pwd`
+case "$host" in
+    *-*-mingw32*)
+        # Except on msys, where make can't handle full pathnames (bug 1972)
+        ;;
+    *)
+        srcdir=`cd $srcdir && pwd`
+        ;;
+esac
 
 dnl Set up the compiler and linker flags
 INCLUDE="-I$srcdir/include"