diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 96382acd7..fad565fd8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -483,8 +483,9 @@ if test x$use_hardening != xno; then
     HARDENED_CPPFLAGS="$HARDENED_CPPFLAGS -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2"
   ],[AC_MSG_ERROR(Cannot enable -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2)])
 
-  if test x$BUILD_OS = xdarwin; then
+  if test x$BUILD_OS = xdarwin || test x$TARGET_OS = xwindows; then
     # Xcode's ld (at least ld64-302.3) doesn't support -z
+    # mingw-w64's ld (at least mingw-w64 4.0.4-2) also appears to not support -z
     AX_CHECK_LINK_FLAG([[-Wl,-z,relro]], [HARDENED_LDFLAGS="$HARDENED_LDFLAGS -Wl,-z,relro"],[AC_MSG_WARN(Cannot enable RELRO)])
     AX_CHECK_LINK_FLAG([[-Wl,-z,now]], [HARDENED_LDFLAGS="$HARDENED_LDFLAGS -Wl,-z,now"],[AC_MSG_WARN(Cannot enable BIND_NOW)])
   else