diff --git a/src/nvim/os/env.c b/src/nvim/os/env.c
index f5dbf0694e47c2..55163554825b08 100644
--- a/src/nvim/os/env.c
+++ b/src/nvim/os/env.c
@@ -102,9 +102,6 @@ bool os_env_exists(const char *name)
   assert(r != UV_EINVAL);
   if (r != 0 && r != UV_ENOENT && r != UV_ENOBUFS) {
     ELOG("uv_os_getenv(%s) failed: %d %s", name, r, uv_err_name(r));
-#ifdef WIN32
-    return (r == UV_UNKNOWN);
-#endif
   }
   return (r == 0 || r == UV_ENOBUFS);
 }
diff --git a/test/functional/eval/environ_spec.lua b/test/functional/eval/environ_spec.lua
index 4c2adcf1bfb401..84564d9f937258 100644
--- a/test/functional/eval/environ_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/eval/environ_spec.lua
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ local clear = helpers.clear
 local eq = helpers.eq
 local environ = helpers.funcs.environ
 local exists = helpers.funcs.exists
+local iswin = helpers.iswin
 
 describe('environment variables', function()
   it('environ() handles empty env variable', function()
@@ -11,8 +12,8 @@ describe('environment variables', function()
     eq(nil, environ()['DOES_NOT_EXIST'])
   end)
   it('exists() handles empty env variable', function()
-    clear({env={EMPTY_VAR=""}})
-    eq(1, exists('$EMPTY_VAR'))
+    clear({env={EMPTY_VAR=""}})  -- Windows treats this as "undefined".
+    eq((iswin() and 0 or 1), exists('$EMPTY_VAR'))
     eq(0, exists('$DOES_NOT_EXIST'))
   end)
 end)