diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 24ee6329f..2f0463fb0 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -118,8 +118,12 @@ esac
 AC_MSG_RESULT([$hb_os_win32])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(OS_WIN32, test "$hb_os_win32" = "yes")
 
+# XXX Don't check for pthread for mingw toolchain on Windows
+# https://github.com/fonttools/ttfautohint-py/pull/12
 have_pthread=false
-AX_PTHREAD([have_pthread=true])
+if test "$hb_os_win32" = "no"; then
+    AX_PTHREAD([have_pthread=true])
+fi
 if $have_pthread; then
 	AC_DEFINE(HAVE_PTHREAD, 1, [Have POSIX threads])
 fi