diff --git a/builtin/var.c b/builtin/var.c
index 5dc384810c0969..f4b1f34e4035ab 100644
--- a/builtin/var.c
+++ b/builtin/var.c
@@ -51,7 +51,13 @@ static char *default_branch(int ident_flag UNUSED)
 
 static char *shell_path(int ident_flag UNUSED)
 {
+#ifdef WIN32
+	char *p = locate_in_PATH("sh");
+	convert_slashes(p);
+	return p;
+#else
 	return xstrdup(SHELL_PATH);
+#endif
 }
 
 static char *git_attr_val_system(int ident_flag UNUSED)
diff --git a/t/t0007-git-var.sh b/t/t0007-git-var.sh
index ff4fd9348cca64..9fc5882387390a 100755
--- a/t/t0007-git-var.sh
+++ b/t/t0007-git-var.sh
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ test_expect_success POSIXPERM 'GIT_SHELL_PATH points to a valid executable' '
 test_expect_success MINGW 'GIT_SHELL_PATH points to a suitable shell' '
 	shellpath=$(git var GIT_SHELL_PATH) &&
 	case "$shellpath" in
-	*sh) ;;
+	[A-Z]:/*/sh.exe) test -f "$shellpath";;
 	*) return 1;;
 	esac
 '