diff --git a/src/backend/xml/gnc-backend-xml.c b/src/backend/xml/gnc-backend-xml.c
index d0131f3568..777456ef27 100644
--- a/src/backend/xml/gnc-backend-xml.c
+++ b/src/backend/xml/gnc-backend-xml.c
@@ -241,7 +241,11 @@ xml_session_begin(QofBackend *be_start, QofSession *session,
 
         /* Again check whether the directory can be accessed */
         rc = g_stat (be->dirname, &statbuf);
-        if (rc != 0 || !S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode))
+        if (rc != 0
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+			|| !S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode)
+#endif
+			)
         {
             /* Error on stat or if it isn't a directory means we
                cannot find this filename */
@@ -267,7 +271,11 @@ xml_session_begin(QofBackend *be_start, QofSession *session,
             LEAVE("");
             return;
         }
-        if (rc == 0 && S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode))
+        if (rc == 0
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+			&& S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode)
+#endif
+			)
         {
             /* FIXME: What is actually checked here? Whether the
                fullpath erroneously points to a directory or what?
diff --git a/src/engine/gnc-filepath-utils.c b/src/engine/gnc-filepath-utils.c
index e3ea2a602f..94d3c50393 100644
--- a/src/engine/gnc-filepath-utils.c
+++ b/src/engine/gnc-filepath-utils.c
@@ -369,7 +369,13 @@ gnc_validate_directory (const gchar *dirname)
   if (rc) {
     switch (errno) {
     case ENOENT:
-      rc = g_mkdir (dirname, S_IRWXU);   /* perms = S_IRWXU = 0700 */
+      rc = g_mkdir (dirname,
+#ifdef G_OS_WIN32
+		  0          /* The mode argument is ignored on windows */
+#else
+		  S_IRWXU    /* perms = S_IRWXU = 0700 */
+#endif
+		  );
       if (rc) {
 	g_fprintf(stderr,
 		  _("An error occurred while creating the directory:\n"
@@ -422,6 +428,8 @@ gnc_validate_directory (const gchar *dirname)
 	      dirname);
     exit(1);
   }
+#ifndef G_OS_WIN32
+  /* The mode argument is ignored on windows anyway */
   if ((statbuf.st_mode & S_IRWXU) != S_IRWXU) {
     g_fprintf(stderr,
 	      _("The permissions are wrong on the directory\n"
@@ -430,6 +438,7 @@ gnc_validate_directory (const gchar *dirname)
 	      dirname);
     exit(1);
   }
+#endif
 }
 
 const gchar *