diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index e20e00ea..19b5776a 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ $libtool_flags --disable-static --output=libtool-static --no-verify $ac_aux_dir/
 
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS(string.h stdlib.h unistd.h dirent.h sys/ioctl.h libintl.h)
 
+# check posix headers..
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS(sys/time.h sys/utsname.h regex.h)
 
 AC_ARG_WITH(socks,
 [  --with-socks            Build with socks support],
diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 8fa76d78..762d3dec 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@
 #include <time.h>
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
-#include <sys/time.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_TIME_H
+#  include <sys/time.h>
+#endif
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 
 #ifdef HAVE_UNISTD_H
@@ -32,6 +34,9 @@
 #  include <dirent.h>
 #endif
 #include <fcntl.h>
+#ifdef WIN32
+#  include <win32-compat.h>
+#endif
 
 #include <glib.h>
 #include <gmodule.h>
diff --git a/src/core/misc.c b/src/core/misc.c
index 55f61dda..73b66128 100644
--- a/src/core/misc.c
+++ b/src/core/misc.c
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@
 #include "pidwait.h"
 
 #include <errno.h>
-#include <regex.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_REGEX_H
+#  include <regex.h>
+#endif
 
 typedef struct {
 	GInputCondition condition;
@@ -168,10 +170,13 @@ int strarray_find(char **array, const char *item)
 int execute(const char *cmd)
 {
 	char **args;
+#ifndef WIN32
 	int pid;
+#endif
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail(cmd != NULL, -1);
 
+#ifndef WIN32
 	pid = fork();
 	if (pid == -1) return FALSE;
 	if (pid != 0) {
@@ -185,6 +190,12 @@ int execute(const char *cmd)
 
 	_exit(99);
 	return -1;
+#else
+	args = g_strsplit(cmd, " ", -1);
+	_spawnvp(_P_DETACH, args[0], args);
+	g_strfreev(args);
+	return 0;
+#endif
 }
 
 GSList *gslist_find_string(GSList *list, const char *key)
@@ -337,6 +348,7 @@ char *stristr_full(const char *data, const char *key)
 
 int regexp_match(const char *str, const char *regexp)
 {
+#ifdef HAVE_REGEX_H
 	regex_t preg;
 	int ret;
 
@@ -347,13 +359,16 @@ int regexp_match(const char *str, const char *regexp)
 	regfree(&preg);
 
 	return ret == 0;
+#else
+	return FALSE;
+#endif
 }
 
 /* Create the directory and all it's parent directories */
 int mkpath(const char *path, int mode)
 {
 	struct stat statbuf;
-        const char *p;
+	const char *p;
 	char *dir;
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail(path != NULL, -1);
@@ -367,7 +382,11 @@ int mkpath(const char *path, int mode)
 
 		dir = g_strndup(path, (int) (p-path));
 		if (stat(dir, &statbuf) != 0) {
+#ifndef WIN32
 			if (mkdir(dir, mode) == -1) {
+#else
+			if (_mkdir(dir) == -1) {
+#endif
 				g_free(dir);
 				return -1;
 			}
diff --git a/src/core/net-internal.h b/src/core/net-internal.h
index 79da708e..dd870a1b 100644
--- a/src/core/net-internal.h
+++ b/src/core/net-internal.h
@@ -2,5 +2,7 @@
 #include <socks.h>
 #endif
 
-#include <netdb.h>
-#include <arpa/inet.h>
+#ifndef WIN32
+#  include <netdb.h>
+#  include <arpa/inet.h>
+#endif
diff --git a/src/core/network.c b/src/core/network.c
index 4a60a963..8d246bb6 100644
--- a/src/core/network.c
+++ b/src/core/network.c
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ int net_getsockname(int handle, IPADDR *addr, int *port)
 #ifdef HAVE_IPV6
 	if (getsockname(handle, &so.sin6, &len) == -1)
 #else
-	if (getsockname(handle, &so.sin, &len) == -1)
+	if (getsockname(handle, (struct sockaddr *) &so.sin, &len) == -1)
 #endif
 		return -1;
 
diff --git a/src/core/network.h b/src/core/network.h
index 613434c4..31817cdb 100644
--- a/src/core/network.h
+++ b/src/core/network.h
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@
 #define __NETWORK_H
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
-#include <sys/socket.h>
-#include <netinet/in.h>
+#ifndef WIN32
+#  include <sys/socket.h>
+#  include <netinet/in.h>
+#endif
 
 struct _ipaddr {
 	unsigned short family;
diff --git a/src/core/settings.c b/src/core/settings.c
index 80406261..3bfddec5 100644
--- a/src/core/settings.c
+++ b/src/core/settings.c
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ static void init_configfile(void)
 	str = g_strdup_printf("%s/.irssi", g_get_home_dir());
 	if (stat(str, &statbuf) != 0) {
 		/* ~/.irssi not found, create it. */
-		if (mkdir(str, 0700) != 0) {
+		if (mkpath(str, 0700) != 0) {
 			g_error(_("Couldn't create %s/.irssi directory"),
 				g_get_home_dir());
 		}
diff --git a/src/core/special-vars.c b/src/core/special-vars.c
index 1aa081e9..0b83658f 100644
--- a/src/core/special-vars.c
+++ b/src/core/special-vars.c
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@
 #include "queries.h"
 #include "window-item-def.h"
 
-#include <sys/utsname.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_UTSNAME_H
+#  include <sys/utsname.h>
+#endif
 
 #define ALIGN_RIGHT 0x01
 #define ALIGN_CUT   0x02
@@ -673,6 +675,7 @@ static char *expando_dollar(SERVER_REC *server, void *item, int *free_ret)
 /* system name */
 static char *expando_sysname(SERVER_REC *server, void *item, int *free_ret)
 {
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_UTSNAME_H
 	struct utsname un;
 
 	if (uname(&un) == -1)
@@ -680,12 +683,15 @@ static char *expando_sysname(SERVER_REC *server, void *item, int *free_ret)
 
 	*free_ret = TRUE;
 	return g_strdup(un.sysname);
-
+#else
+	return NULL;
+#endif
 }
 
 /* system release */
 static char *expando_sysrelease(SERVER_REC *server, void *item, int *free_ret)
 {
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_UTSNAME_H
 	struct utsname un;
 
 	if (uname(&un) == -1)
@@ -693,7 +699,9 @@ static char *expando_sysrelease(SERVER_REC *server, void *item, int *free_ret)
 
 	*free_ret = TRUE;
 	return g_strdup(un.release);
-
+#else
+	return NULL;
+#endif
 }
 
 /* Server tag */