diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index a94fc63073c3ce..35847a0da8c649 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -456,10 +456,6 @@ FILE *mingw_fopen (const char *filename, const char *otype)
 	int hide = 0;
 	FILE *file;
 	wchar_t wfilename[MAX_PATH], wotype[4];
-
-	if (is_dos_device_name(filename))
-		return fopen(filename, otype);
-
 	if (hide_dotfiles == HIDE_DOTFILES_TRUE &&
 	    basename((char*)filename)[0] == '.')
 		hide = access(filename, F_OK);
@@ -474,16 +470,11 @@ FILE *mingw_fopen (const char *filename, const char *otype)
 	return file;
 }
 
-#undef freopen
 FILE *mingw_freopen (const char *filename, const char *otype, FILE *stream)
 {
 	int hide = 0;
 	FILE *file;
 	wchar_t wfilename[MAX_PATH], wotype[4];
-
-	if (is_dos_device_name(filename))
-		return freopen(filename, otype, stream);
-
 	if (hide_dotfiles == HIDE_DOTFILES_TRUE &&
 	    basename((char*)filename)[0] == '.')
 		hide = access(filename, F_OK);
@@ -2148,6 +2139,30 @@ int xutftowcsn(wchar_t *wcs, const char *utfs, size_t wcslen, int utflen)
 	return wpos;
 }
 
+int xutftowcs_canonical_path(wchar_t *wcs, const char *utf)
+{
+	wchar_t tmp[MAX_PATH];
+	int result;
+	result = xutftowcsn(tmp, utf, MAX_PATH, -1);
+	if (result < 0 && errno == ERANGE) {
+		errno = ENAMETOOLONG;
+	}
+	else if (is_dos_device_name(utf))
+		wcscpy(wcs, tmp);
+	else {
+		wchar_t tmp2[MAX_PATH*2];
+		result = GetFullPathNameW(tmp, MAX_PATH*2, tmp2, NULL);
+		if (result && result < MAX_PATH) {
+			wcsncpy(wcs, tmp2, MAX_PATH-1);
+			wcs[MAX_PATH-1] = 0;
+		} else {
+			result = -1;
+			errno = ENAMETOOLONG;
+		}
+	}
+	return result;
+}
+
 int xwcstoutf(char *utf, const wchar_t *wcs, size_t utflen)
 {
 	if (!wcs || !utf || utflen < 1) {
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 4b3df96d619fd5..741fa56bb4988b 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -455,29 +455,7 @@ static inline int xutftowcs_path(wchar_t *wcs, const char *utf)
  * fails with ENAMETOOLONG if input string is too long.  This version
  * also canonicalizes the path before returning.
  */
-static inline int xutftowcs_canonical_path(wchar_t *wcs, const char *utf)
-{
-	wchar_t tmp[SHRT_MAX];
-	int result;
-	result = xutftowcsn(tmp, utf, SHRT_MAX, -1);
-	if (result < 0 && errno == ERANGE)
-		errno = ENAMETOOLONG;
-	else if (wcsncmp(tmp, L"nul", 4) == 0 )
-		wcsncpy(wcs, tmp, 4);
-	else {
-		wchar_t tmp2[SHRT_MAX];
-		GetFullPathNameW(tmp, SHRT_MAX, tmp2, NULL);
-		if (wcslen(tmp2) < MAX_PATH)
-			wcsncpy(wcs, tmp2, MAX_PATH - 1);
-		else {
-			result = -1;
-			errno = ENAMETOOLONG;
-		}
-	}
-	if (result != -1)
-		result = wcslen(wcs);
-	return result;
-}
+int xutftowcs_canonical_path(wchar_t *wcs, const char *utf);
 
 /**
  * Converts UTF-16LE encoded string to UTF-8.
diff --git a/t/t7410-submodule-long-path.sh b/t/t7410-submodule-long-path.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..86641d99bfbac6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t7410-submodule-long-path.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2013 Doug Kelly
+#
+
+test_description='Test submodules with a path near PATH_MAX
+
+This test verifies that "git submodule" initialization, update and clones work, including with recursive submodules and paths approaching PATH_MAX (260 characters on Windows)
+'
+
+TEST_NO_CREATE_REPO=1
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+longpath=""
+for (( i=0; i<4; i++ )); do
+	longpath="0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz$longpath"
+done
+# Pick a substring maximum of 90 characters
+# This should be good, since we'll add on a lot for temp directories
+export longpath=${longpath:0:90}
+
+test_expect_success 'submodule with a long path' '
+	git init --bare remote &&
+	test_create_repo bundle1 &&
+	(
+		cd bundle1 &&
+		test_commit "shoot" &&
+		git rev-parse --verify HEAD >../expect
+	) &&
+	mkdir home &&
+	(
+		cd home &&
+		git clone ../remote test &&
+		cd test &&
+		git submodule add ../bundle1 $longpath &&
+		test_commit "sogood" &&
+		(
+			cd $longpath &&
+			git rev-parse --verify HEAD >actual &&
+			test_cmp ../../../expect actual
+		) &&
+		git push origin master
+	) &&
+	mkdir home2 &&
+	(
+		cd home2 &&
+		git clone ../remote test &&
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout master &&
+		git submodule update --init &&
+		(
+			cd $longpath &&
+			git rev-parse --verify HEAD >actual &&
+			test_cmp ../../../expect actual
+		)
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'recursive submodule with a long path' '
+	git init --bare super &&
+	test_create_repo child &&
+	(
+		cd child &&
+		test_commit "shoot" &&
+		git rev-parse --verify HEAD >../expect
+	) &&
+	test_create_repo parent &&
+	(
+		cd parent &&
+		git submodule add ../child $longpath &&
+		test_commit "aim"
+	) &&
+	mkdir home3 &&
+	(
+		cd home3 &&
+		git clone ../super test &&
+		cd test &&
+		git submodule add ../parent foo &&
+		git submodule update --init --recursive
+		test_commit "sogood" &&
+		(
+			cd foo/$longpath &&
+			git rev-parse --verify HEAD >actual &&
+			test_cmp ../../../../expect actual
+		) &&
+		git push origin master
+	) &&
+	mkdir home4 &&
+	(
+		cd home4 &&
+		git clone ../super test --recursive &&
+		(
+			cd test/foo/$longpath &&
+			git rev-parse --verify HEAD >actual &&
+			test_cmp ../../../../expect actual
+		)
+	)
+'
+unset longpath
+
+test_done