diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 901375d58415a3..4f2f96272d74b6 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1049,11 +1049,19 @@ unsigned int sleep (unsigned int seconds)
 char *mingw_mktemp(char *template)
 {
 	wchar_t wtemplate[MAX_PATH];
+	int offset = 0;
+
 	if (xutftowcs_path(wtemplate, template) < 0)
 		return NULL;
+
+	if (is_dir_sep(template[0]) && !is_dir_sep(template[1]) &&
+	    iswalpha(wtemplate[0]) && wtemplate[1] == L':') {
+		/* We have an absolute path missing the drive prefix */
+		offset = 2;
+	}
 	if (!_wmktemp(wtemplate))
 		return NULL;
-	if (xwcstoutf(template, wtemplate, strlen(template) + 1) < 0)
+	if (xwcstoutf(template, wtemplate + offset, strlen(template) + 1) < 0)
 		return NULL;
 	return template;
 }
diff --git a/t/t5580-unc-paths.sh b/t/t5580-unc-paths.sh
index 116204b59d919e..2c5b410048952d 100755
--- a/t/t5580-unc-paths.sh
+++ b/t/t5580-unc-paths.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ case "$UNCPATH" in
 	;;
 esac
 
-test_expect_failure 'clone into absolute path lacking a drive prefix' '
+test_expect_success 'clone into absolute path lacking a drive prefix' '
 	USINGBACKSLASHES="$(echo "$WITHOUTDRIVE"/without-drive-prefix |
 		tr / \\\\)" &&
 	git clone . "$USINGBACKSLASHES" &&