diff --git a/modules/ts/include/opencv2/ts/ts_gtest.h b/modules/ts/include/opencv2/ts/ts_gtest.h
index d886c97b6b..2153381ab9 100644
--- a/modules/ts/include/opencv2/ts/ts_gtest.h
+++ b/modules/ts/include/opencv2/ts/ts_gtest.h
@@ -720,10 +720,16 @@
 #  include <io.h>
 # endif
 // In order to avoid having to include <windows.h>, use forward declaration
-// assuming CRITICAL_SECTION is a typedef of _RTL_CRITICAL_SECTION.
-// This assumption is verified by
-// WindowsTypesTest.CRITICAL_SECTIONIs_RTL_CRITICAL_SECTION.
-struct _RTL_CRITICAL_SECTION;
+# if GTEST_OS_WINDOWS_MINGW
+   // MinGW defined _CRITICAL_SECTION and _RTL_CRITICAL_SECTION as two
+   // separate (equivalent) structs, instead of using typedef
+   typedef struct _CRITICAL_SECTION GTEST_CRITICAL_SECTION;
+# else
+   // assuming CRITICAL_SECTION is a typedef of _RTL_CRITICAL_SECTION.
+   // This assumption is verified by
+   // WindowsTypesTest.CRITICAL_SECTIONIs_RTL_CRITICAL_SECTION.
+   typedef struct _RTL_CRITICAL_SECTION GTEST_CRITICAL_SECTION;
+# endif
 #else
 // This assumes that non-Windows OSes provide unistd.h. For OSes where this
 // is not the case, we need to include headers that provide the functions
@@ -3057,7 +3063,7 @@ class GTEST_API_ Mutex {
   // by the linker.
   MutexType type_;
   long critical_section_init_phase_;  // NOLINT
-  _RTL_CRITICAL_SECTION* critical_section_;
+  GTEST_CRITICAL_SECTION* critical_section_;
 
   GTEST_DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN_(Mutex);
 };