diff --git a/src/common/init.c b/src/common/init.c
index 2be0bea..57ec243 100644
--- a/src/common/init.c
+++ b/src/common/init.c
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <pthread.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 
 void dragonblocks_init(int argc)
@@ -11,8 +12,16 @@ void dragonblocks_init(int argc)
 	pthread_setname_np(pthread_self(), "main");
 #endif // __GLIBC__
 
+	// stat() does not properly handle trailing slashes on dirs on MinGW in some cases
+	// strip trailing slashes
+	size_t len = strlen(ASSET_PATH);
+	char stat_path[len+1];
+	strcpy(stat_path, ASSET_PATH);
+	while (len > 0 && stat_path[len-1] == '/')
+		stat_path[--len] = '\0';
+
 	struct stat sb;
-	if (stat(ASSET_PATH, &sb) != 0 || !S_ISDIR(sb.st_mode)) {
+	if (stat(stat_path, &sb) != 0 || !S_ISDIR(sb.st_mode)) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "[error] asset directory not found at %s, "
 			"invoke game from correct path\n", ASSET_PATH);
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);