diff --git a/.github/workflows/windows_meson.yml b/.github/workflows/windows_meson.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6be2af7e5e4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/windows_meson.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+name: Test Meson build (Windows)
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+      - maintenance/**
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+      - maintenance/**
+
+env:
+  PYTHON_VERSION: 3.11
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.head_ref || github.run_id }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read # to fetch code (actions/checkout)
+
+jobs:
+  meson:
+    name: Meson windows build/test
+    runs-on: windows-2019
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Setup Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: |
+          pip install -r build_requirements.txt
+      - name: openblas-libs
+        run: |
+          # Download and install pre-built OpenBLAS library
+          # with 32-bit interfaces
+          # Unpack it in the pkg-config hardcoded path
+          choco install unzip -y
+          choco install wget -y
+          choco install -y --checksum 6004DF17818F5A6DBF19CB335CC92702 pkgconfiglite
+          wget https://anaconda.org/multibuild-wheels-staging/openblas-libs/v0.3.21/download/openblas-v0.3.21-win_amd64-gcc_10_3_0.zip
+          unzip -d c:\opt openblas-v0.3.21-win_amd64-gcc_10_3_0.zip
+          echo "PKG_CONFIG_PATH=c:\opt\64\lib\pkgconfig;" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
+      - name: meson-configure
+        run: |
+          meson setup build --prefix=$PWD\build-install -Ddebug=false --optimization 2 --vsenv 
+      - name: meson-build
+        run: |
+          meson compile -C build -v
+
+      - name: meson-install
+        run: |
+          cd build
+          meson install --no-rebuild
+      - name: build-path
+        run: |
+          echo "installed_path=$PWD\build-install\Lib\site-packages" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
+      - name: post-install
+        run: |
+          $numpy_path = "${env:installed_path}\numpy"
+          $libs_path = "${numpy_path}\.libs"
+          mkdir ${libs_path}
+          $ob_path = "C:/opt/64/bin/"
+          cp $ob_path/*.dll $libs_path
+          # Write _distributor_init.py to load .libs DLLs.
+          python tools\openblas_support.py --write-init $numpy_path
+
+      - name: prep-test
+        run: |
+          echo "PYTHONPATH=${env:installed_path}" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
+          python -m pip install -r test_requirements.txt
+          python -m pip install threadpoolctl
+      - name: test
+        run: |
+          mkdir tmp
+          cd tmp
+          python -c"import numpy; print(numpy.show_runtime())"
+          python -c "import numpy; numpy.test(verbose=3)"
diff --git a/numpy/core/meson.build b/numpy/core/meson.build
index e094f9dabf66..651f7a00a775 100644
--- a/numpy/core/meson.build
+++ b/numpy/core/meson.build
@@ -589,11 +589,17 @@ c_args_common = [
 ]
 
 # Same as NPY_CXX_FLAGS (TODO: extend for what ccompiler_opt adds)
-cpp_args_common = c_args_common + [
-  '-D__STDC_VERSION__=0',  # for compatibility with C headers
-  '-fno-exceptions',  # no exception support
-  '-fno-rtti',  # no runtime type information
-]
+if cc.get_id() == 'msvc'
+  cpp_args_common = c_args_common + [
+    '-D__STDC_VERSION__=0',  # for compatibility with C headers
+  ]
+else
+  cpp_args_common = c_args_common + [
+    '-D__STDC_VERSION__=0',  # for compatibility with C headers
+    '-fno-exceptions',  # no exception support
+    '-fno-rtti',  # no runtime type information
+  ]
+endif
 
 # Other submodules depend on generated headers and include directories from
 # core, wrap those up into a reusable dependency. Also useful for some test
diff --git a/numpy/meson.build b/numpy/meson.build
index 0bb37f8c2ae2..76f3ee8bd3cd 100644
--- a/numpy/meson.build
+++ b/numpy/meson.build
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ if is_windows
     endif
   endif
 endif
+if is_msvc
+      add_project_arguments('-DNDEBUG', language: ['c', 'cpp'])
+endif
 
 # Enable UNIX large file support on 32-bit systems (64 bit off_t,
 # lseek -> lseek64, etc.)
@@ -77,6 +80,9 @@ dependency_map = {
 # TODO: add ILP64 support
 have_blas = blas.found() # TODO: and blas.has_cblas()
 have_lapack = lapack.found()
+if have_blas
+  add_project_arguments('-DHAVE_CBLAS', language: ['c', 'cpp'])
+endif
 
 # Copy the main __init__.py|pxd files to the build dir (needed for Cython)
 __init__py = fs.copyfile('__init__.py')
diff --git a/numpy/random/meson.build b/numpy/random/meson.build
index cc61c66dd7fc..036cd81b9a2e 100644
--- a/numpy/random/meson.build
+++ b/numpy/random/meson.build
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ random_pyx_sources = [
       fs.copyfile('mtrand.pyx'),
       'src/distributions/distributions.c',
       'src/legacy/legacy-distributions.c'
-    ], ['-DNPY_RANDOM_LEGACY=1'], npymath_lib,
+    ], ['-DNP_RANDOM_LEGACY=1'], npymath_lib,
   ],
 ]
 foreach gen: random_pyx_sources
diff --git a/tools/openblas_support.py b/tools/openblas_support.py
index bc81c5f68737..84567fffe0f5 100644
--- a/tools/openblas_support.py
+++ b/tools/openblas_support.py
@@ -232,36 +232,13 @@ def make_init(dirname):
     with open(os.path.join(dirname, '_distributor_init.py'), 'wt') as fid:
         fid.write(textwrap.dedent("""
             '''
-            Helper to preload windows dlls to prevent dll not found errors.
-            Once a DLL is preloaded, its namespace is made available to any
-            subsequent DLL. This file originated in the numpy-wheels repo,
-            and is created as part of the scripts that build the wheel.
+            Helper to add the path to the openblas dll to the dll search space
             '''
             import os
-            import glob
-            if os.name == 'nt':
-                # convention for storing / loading the DLL from
-                # numpy/.libs/, if present
-                try:
-                    from ctypes import WinDLL
-                    basedir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-                except:
-                    pass
-                else:
-                    libs_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(basedir, '.libs'))
-                    DLL_filenames = []
-                    if os.path.isdir(libs_dir):
-                        for filename in glob.glob(os.path.join(libs_dir,
-                                                               '*openblas*dll')):
-                            # NOTE: would it change behavior to load ALL
-                            # DLLs at this path vs. the name restriction?
-                            WinDLL(os.path.abspath(filename))
-                            DLL_filenames.append(filename)
-                    if len(DLL_filenames) > 1:
-                        import warnings
-                        warnings.warn("loaded more than 1 DLL from .libs:"
-                                      "\\n%s" % "\\n".join(DLL_filenames),
-                                      stacklevel=1)
+            import sys
+            extra_dll_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '.libs')
+            if sys.platform == 'win32' and os.path.isdir(extra_dll_dir):
+                os.add_dll_directory(extra_dll_dir)
     """))
 
 
@@ -343,9 +320,14 @@ def test_version(expected_version=None):
     parser.add_argument('--check_version', nargs='?', default='',
                         help='Check provided OpenBLAS version string '
                              'against available OpenBLAS')
+    parser.add_argument('--write-init', nargs=1,
+                        metavar='OUT_SCIPY_DIR',
+                        help='Write distribution init to named dir')
     args = parser.parse_args()
     if args.check_version != '':
         test_version(args.check_version)
+    elif args.write_init:
+        make_init(args.write_init[0])
     elif args.test is None:
         print(setup_openblas())
     else: