diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
index ad231631bb46e1..ad3caf86529fb1 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ def finalize_options(self):
 
         # For extensions under Cygwin, Python's library directory must be
         # appended to library_dirs
-        if sys.platform[:6] == 'cygwin':
+        if sys.platform[:6] == 'cygwin' or self.plat_name.startswith(('mingw')):
             if sys.executable.startswith(os.path.join(sys.exec_prefix, "bin")):
                 # building third party extensions
                 config_dir_name = os.path.basename(sysconfig.get_config_var('LIBPL'))