diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index f0e91d8ee..5f028b527 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -384,8 +384,11 @@ if( ZD_CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX_COMPATIBLE )
 	# Remove extra warnings when using the official DirectX headers.
 	# Also, TDM-GCC 4.4.0 no longer accepts glibc-style printf formats as valid,
 	# which is a royal pain. The previous version I had been using was fine with them.
+	# MinGW: switch to the Windows Unicode API.
 	if( WIN32 )
 		set( CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-Wno-unknown-pragmas -Wno-comment -Wno-format ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}" )
+		set( CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-D_UNICODE -DUNICODE ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}" )
+		set( CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS "${CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS} -municode" )
 	endif()
 
 	# Detect FreeBSD and add flags