diff --git a/programs/platform.h b/programs/platform.h
index f30528aa9..5801f6ec3 100644
--- a/programs/platform.h
+++ b/programs/platform.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ extern "C" {
 /* *********************************************************
 *  Turn on Large Files support (>4GB) for 32-bit Linux/Unix
 ***********************************************************/
-#if !defined(__64BIT__)                               /* No point defining Large file for 64 bit */
+#if !defined(__64BIT__) || defined(__MINGW32__)       /* No point defining Large file for 64 bit but MinGW requires it */
 #  if !defined(_FILE_OFFSET_BITS)   
 #    define _FILE_OFFSET_BITS 64                      /* turn off_t into a 64-bit type for ftello, fseeko */
 #  endif