diff --git a/api/Makefile.am b/api/Makefile.am
index 05cc8b3e..129c31ad 100644
--- a/api/Makefile.am
+++ b/api/Makefile.am
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ libtesseract_la_LIBADD = \
 libtesseract_la_LDFLAGS += -version-info $(GENERIC_LIBRARY_VERSION)
 
 bin_PROGRAMS = tesseract
-tesseract_SOURCES = $(top_srcdir)/api/tesseractmain.cpp
+tesseract_SOURCES = tesseractmain.cpp
 tesseract_CPPFLAGS = $(AM_CPPFLAGS)
 if VISIBILITY
 tesseract_CPPFLAGS += -DTESS_IMPORTS
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ if USE_OPENCL
 tesseract_LDADD += $(OPENCL_LIB)
 endif
 
-if MINGW
+if T_WIN
 tesseract_LDADD += -lws2_32
 libtesseract_la_LDFLAGS += -no-undefined -Wl,--as-needed -lws2_32
 endif
diff --git a/ccutil/Makefile.am b/ccutil/Makefile.am
index 84399b13..ea88c74e 100644
--- a/ccutil/Makefile.am
+++ b/ccutil/Makefile.am
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = subdir-objects
 SUBDIRS =
 AM_CXXFLAGS =
 
@@ -40,8 +41,7 @@ libtesseract_ccutil_la_SOURCES = \
     unichar.cpp unicharmap.cpp unicharset.cpp unicodes.cpp \
     params.cpp universalambigs.cpp
 
-
-if MINGW
+if T_WIN
 AM_CPPFLAGS += -I$(top_srcdir)/vs2008/port -DWINDLLNAME=\"lib@GENERIC_LIBRARY_NAME@\"
 noinst_HEADERS += ../vs2010/port/strtok_r.h
 libtesseract_ccutil_la_SOURCES += ../vs2010/port/strtok_r.cpp
diff --git a/ccutil/ambigs.cpp b/ccutil/ambigs.cpp
index 166352e2..7620e958 100644
--- a/ccutil/ambigs.cpp
+++ b/ccutil/ambigs.cpp
@@ -24,13 +24,13 @@
 #include "helpers.h"
 #include "universalambigs.h"
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
+#if defined _WIN32 || defined(__CYGWIN__)
 #ifndef __GNUC__
 #define strtok_r strtok_s
 #else
 #include "strtok_r.h"
 #endif  /* __GNUC__ */
-#endif  /* _WIN32 */
+#endif  /* _WIN32 __CYGWIN__*/
 
 namespace tesseract {
 
diff --git a/ccutil/scanutils.cpp b/ccutil/scanutils.cpp
index d97632bb..f49c6f63 100644
--- a/ccutil/scanutils.cpp
+++ b/ccutil/scanutils.cpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 #include "tprintf.h"
 
 // workaround for "'off_t' was not declared in this scope" with -std=c++11
-#if !defined(off_t) && !defined(__APPLE__)
+#if !defined(off_t) && !defined(__APPLE__) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
 typedef long off_t;
 #endif  // off_t
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 33427043..8d8f7fa8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ AC_CONFIG_HEADERS(config_auto.h:config/config.h.in)
 AM_MAINTAINER_MODE
 
 # default conditional
-AM_CONDITIONAL(MINGW, false)
+AM_CONDITIONAL(T_WIN, false)
 AM_CONDITIONAL(OSX, false)
 AM_CONDITIONAL(GRAPHICS_DISABLED, false)
 
@@ -77,12 +77,14 @@ AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 case "${host_os}" in
     mingw32*)
         AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(MINGW,1,[This is a MinGW system])
-        AM_CONDITIONAL(MINGW, true)
+        AM_CONDITIONAL(T_WIN, true)
         AM_CONDITIONAL(ADD_RT, false)
         AC_SUBST([AM_LDFLAGS], ['-Wl,-no-undefined -Wl,--as-needed'])
         ;;
     cygwin*)
-	AM_CONDITIONAL(ADD_RT, false)
+        AM_CONDITIONAL(ADD_RT, false)
+        AM_CONDITIONAL(T_WIN, true)
+        AC_SUBST([AM_LDFLAGS], ['-Wl,-no-undefined -Wl,--as-needed'])
         ;;			
     solaris*)
         LIBS="-lsocket -lnsl -lrt -lxnet"
@@ -408,13 +410,9 @@ AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_TRAINING, $have_cairo)
 
 # set c++11 support based on platform/compiler
 if test "x$has_cpp11" = "xyes"; then
-  case "$host" in
+  case "${host_os}" in
     cygwin*)
-      if test "x$snprintfworks" = "xno"; then
-        # cygwin workaround
-        # http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20149633/how-to-use-snprintf-in-g-std-c11-version-4-8-2/20149792#20149792
-        CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -std=gnu++11"
-      fi
+      CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -std=gnu++11"
       ;;
     *-darwin* | *-macos10*)
        if test "x$CLANG" = "xyes"; then
diff --git a/training/Makefile.am b/training/Makefile.am
index cc24b4cf..00a81b33 100644
--- a/training/Makefile.am
+++ b/training/Makefile.am
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = subdir-objects
 AM_CPPFLAGS += \
     -DUSE_STD_NAMESPACE -DPANGO_ENABLE_ENGINE\
     -I$(top_srcdir)/ccmain -I$(top_srcdir)/api \
@@ -9,7 +10,7 @@ AM_CPPFLAGS += \
 
 EXTRA_DIST = tesstrain.sh
 
-if MINGW
+if T_WIN
 # try static build
 #AM_LDFLAGS += -all-static
 #libic=-lsicuin -licudt -lsicuuc
@@ -279,7 +280,7 @@ wordlist2dawg_LDADD += \
     ../api/libtesseract.la
 endif
 
-if MINGW
+if T_WIN
 ambiguous_words_LDADD += -lws2_32
 classifier_tester_LDADD += -lws2_32
 cntraining_LDADD += -lws2_32
diff --git a/viewer/svutil.cpp b/viewer/svutil.cpp
index a660b0f0..a820eafb 100644
--- a/viewer/svutil.cpp
+++ b/viewer/svutil.cpp
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ void SVNetwork::Flush() {
 // This will always return one line of char* (denoted by \n).
 char* SVNetwork::Receive() {
   char* result = NULL;
-#ifdef _WIN32
+#if defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__)
   if (has_content) { result = strtok (NULL, "\n"); }
 #else
   if (buffer_ptr_ != NULL) { result = strtok_r(NULL, "\n", &buffer_ptr_); }