diff --git a/src/fileops.c b/src/fileops.c
index 7f8418d7a..36fcc73df 100644
--- a/src/fileops.c
+++ b/src/fileops.c
@@ -58,9 +58,9 @@ int git_futils_creat_locked(const char *path, const mode_t mode)
 	int fd;
 
 #ifdef GIT_WIN32
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 	fd = _wopen(buf, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC |
 		O_EXCL | O_BINARY | O_CLOEXEC, mode);
 #else
diff --git a/src/path.c b/src/path.c
index 6437979d5..ca0cc8c7c 100644
--- a/src/path.c
+++ b/src/path.c
@@ -486,14 +486,14 @@ bool git_path_is_empty_dir(const char *path)
 {
 	git_buf pathbuf = GIT_BUF_INIT;
 	HANDLE hFind = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
-	wchar_t wbuf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t wbuf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 	WIN32_FIND_DATAW ffd;
 	bool retval = true;
 
 	if (!git_path_isdir(path)) return false;
 
 	git_buf_printf(&pathbuf, "%s\\*", path);
-	git__utf8_to_16(wbuf, GIT_WIN_PATH, git_buf_cstr(&pathbuf));
+	git__utf8_to_16(wbuf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, git_buf_cstr(&pathbuf));
 
 	hFind = FindFirstFileW(wbuf, &ffd);
 	if (INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE == hFind) {
diff --git a/src/transports/winhttp.c b/src/transports/winhttp.c
index 95e422dc0..6064f90d8 100644
--- a/src/transports/winhttp.c
+++ b/src/transports/winhttp.c
@@ -893,7 +893,7 @@ static int winhttp_connect(
 	const char *url)
 {
 	wchar_t *ua = L"git/1.0 (libgit2 " WIDEN(LIBGIT2_VERSION) L")";
-	wchar_t host[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t host[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 	int32_t port;
 	const char *default_port = "80";
 	int ret;
@@ -920,7 +920,7 @@ static int winhttp_connect(
 		return -1;
 
 	/* Prepare host */
-	git__utf8_to_16(host, GIT_WIN_PATH, t->host);
+	git__utf8_to_16(host, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, t->host);
 
 	/* Establish session */
 	t->session = WinHttpOpen(
diff --git a/src/win32/dir.c b/src/win32/dir.c
index 8c51d8378..b18c603f7 100644
--- a/src/win32/dir.c
+++ b/src/win32/dir.c
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ static int init_filter(char *filter, size_t n, const char *dir)
 
 git__DIR *git__opendir(const char *dir)
 {
-	char filter[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	wchar_t filter_w[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	char filter[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF8];
+	wchar_t filter_w[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 	git__DIR *new = NULL;
 
 	if (!dir || !init_filter(filter, sizeof(filter), dir))
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ git__DIR *git__opendir(const char *dir)
 	if (!new->dir)
 		goto fail;
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(filter_w, GIT_WIN_PATH, filter);
+	git__utf8_to_16(filter_w, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, filter);
 	new->h = FindFirstFileW(filter_w, &new->f);
 
 	if (new->h == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ struct git__dirent *git__readdir(git__DIR *d)
 
 void git__rewinddir(git__DIR *d)
 {
-	char filter[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	wchar_t filter_w[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	char filter[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF8];
+	wchar_t filter_w[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 
 	if (!d)
 		return;
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ void git__rewinddir(git__DIR *d)
 	if (!init_filter(filter, sizeof(filter), d->dir))
 		return;
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(filter_w, GIT_WIN_PATH, filter);
+	git__utf8_to_16(filter_w, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, filter);
 	d->h = FindFirstFileW(filter_w, &d->f);
 
 	if (d->h == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
diff --git a/src/win32/dir.h b/src/win32/dir.h
index 7696d468e..a3e154972 100644
--- a/src/win32/dir.h
+++ b/src/win32/dir.h
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 struct git__dirent {
 	int d_ino;
-	char d_name[261];
+	char d_name[260*4+1];
 };
 
 typedef struct {
diff --git a/src/win32/posix.h b/src/win32/posix.h
index c49c2175c..753f35a2d 100644
--- a/src/win32/posix.h
+++ b/src/win32/posix.h
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ GIT_INLINE(int) p_link(const char *old, const char *new)
 
 GIT_INLINE(int) p_mkdir(const char *path, mode_t mode)
 {
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 	GIT_UNUSED(mode);
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 	return _wmkdir(buf);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/win32/posix_w32.c b/src/win32/posix_w32.c
index 036632e2a..a96741d1c 100644
--- a/src/win32/posix_w32.c
+++ b/src/win32/posix_w32.c
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@
 
 int p_unlink(const char *path)
 {
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 	_wchmod(buf, 0666);
 	return _wunlink(buf);
 }
@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ static int do_lstat(
 	const char *file_name, struct stat *buf, int posix_enotdir)
 {
 	WIN32_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DATA fdata;
-	wchar_t fbuf[GIT_WIN_PATH], lastch;
+	wchar_t fbuf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16], lastch;
 	int flen;
 
-	flen = git__utf8_to_16(fbuf, GIT_WIN_PATH, file_name);
+	flen = git__utf8_to_16(fbuf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, file_name);
 
 	/* truncate trailing slashes */
 	for (; flen > 0; --flen) {
@@ -108,10 +108,10 @@ static int do_lstat(
 		 * the length of the path pointed to, which we expect everywhere else
 		 */
 		if (S_ISLNK(fMode)) {
-			char target[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+			char target[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF8];
 			int readlink_result;
 
-			readlink_result = p_readlink(file_name, target, GIT_WIN_PATH);
+			readlink_result = p_readlink(file_name, target, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF8);
 
 			if (readlink_result == -1)
 				return -1;
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ int p_readlink(const char *link, char *target, size_t target_len)
 	static fpath_func pGetFinalPath = NULL;
 	HANDLE hFile;
 	DWORD dwRet;
-	wchar_t link_w[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t link_w[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 	wchar_t* target_w;
 	int error = 0;
 
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ int p_readlink(const char *link, char *target, size_t target_len)
 		}
 	}
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(link_w, GIT_WIN_PATH, link);
+	git__utf8_to_16(link_w, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, link);
 
 	hFile = CreateFileW(link_w,			// file to open
 			GENERIC_READ,			// open for reading
@@ -254,10 +254,10 @@ int p_symlink(const char *old, const char *new)
 
 int p_open(const char *path, int flags, ...)
 {
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 	mode_t mode = 0;
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 
 	if (flags & O_CREAT) {
 		va_list arg_list;
@@ -272,8 +272,8 @@ int p_open(const char *path, int flags, ...)
 
 int p_creat(const char *path, mode_t mode)
 {
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 	return _wopen(buf, _O_WRONLY | _O_CREAT | _O_TRUNC | _O_BINARY, mode);
 }
 
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ int p_getcwd(char *buffer_out, size_t size)
 
 int p_stat(const char* path, struct stat* buf)
 {
-	char target[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	char target[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF8];
 	int error = 0;
 
 	error = do_lstat(path, buf, 0);
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ int p_stat(const char* path, struct stat* buf)
 	/* We need not do this in a loop to unwind chains of symlinks since
 	 * p_readlink calls GetFinalPathNameByHandle which does it for us. */
 	if (error >= 0 && S_ISLNK(buf->st_mode) &&
-		(error = p_readlink(path, target, GIT_WIN_PATH)) >= 0)
+		(error = p_readlink(path, target, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF8)) >= 0)
 		error = do_lstat(target, buf, 0);
 
 	return error;
@@ -315,23 +315,23 @@ int p_stat(const char* path, struct stat* buf)
 
 int p_chdir(const char* path)
 {
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 	return _wchdir(buf);
 }
 
 int p_chmod(const char* path, mode_t mode)
 {
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 	return _wchmod(buf, mode);
 }
 
 int p_rmdir(const char* path)
 {
 	int error;
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 
 	error = _wrmdir(buf);
 
@@ -347,24 +347,24 @@ int p_rmdir(const char* path)
 
 int p_hide_directory__w32(const char *path)
 {
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 	return (SetFileAttributesW(buf, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN) != 0) ? 0 : -1;
 }
 
 char *p_realpath(const char *orig_path, char *buffer)
 {
 	int ret;
-	wchar_t orig_path_w[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	wchar_t buffer_w[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t orig_path_w[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	wchar_t buffer_w[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(orig_path_w, GIT_WIN_PATH, orig_path);
+	git__utf8_to_16(orig_path_w, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, orig_path);
 
 	/* Implicitly use GetCurrentDirectory which can be a threading issue */
-	ret = GetFullPathNameW(orig_path_w, GIT_WIN_PATH, buffer_w, NULL);
+	ret = GetFullPathNameW(orig_path_w, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, buffer_w, NULL);
 
 	/* According to MSDN, a return value equals to zero means a failure. */
-	if (ret == 0 || ret > GIT_WIN_PATH)
+	if (ret == 0 || ret > GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16)
 		buffer = NULL;
 
 	else if (GetFileAttributesW(buffer_w) == INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES) {
@@ -448,18 +448,18 @@ int p_setenv(const char* name, const char* value, int overwrite)
 
 int p_access(const char* path, mode_t mode)
 {
-	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH, path);
+	wchar_t buf[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	git__utf8_to_16(buf, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, path);
 	return _waccess(buf, mode);
 }
 
 int p_rename(const char *from, const char *to)
 {
-	wchar_t wfrom[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	wchar_t wto[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t wfrom[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	wchar_t wto[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(wfrom, GIT_WIN_PATH, from);
-	git__utf8_to_16(wto, GIT_WIN_PATH, to);
+	git__utf8_to_16(wfrom, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, from);
+	git__utf8_to_16(wto, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, to);
 	return MoveFileExW(wfrom, wto, MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING | MOVEFILE_COPY_ALLOWED) ? 0 : -1;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/win32/utf-conv.c b/src/win32/utf-conv.c
index c06f3a8c2..78d277494 100644
--- a/src/win32/utf-conv.c
+++ b/src/win32/utf-conv.c
@@ -77,5 +77,5 @@ int git__utf8_to_16(wchar_t *dest, size_t length, const char *src)
 
 int git__utf16_to_8(char *out, const wchar_t *input)
 {
-	return WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, input, -1, out, GIT_WIN_PATH, NULL, NULL);
+	return WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, input, -1, out, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF8, NULL, NULL);
 }
diff --git a/src/win32/utf-conv.h b/src/win32/utf-conv.h
index 6cc9205f7..9922e2969 100644
--- a/src/win32/utf-conv.h
+++ b/src/win32/utf-conv.h
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
 #ifndef INCLUDE_git_utfconv_h__
 #define INCLUDE_git_utfconv_h__
 
-#define GIT_WIN_PATH (260 + 1)
+#define GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16 (260 + 1)
+#define GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF8  (260 * 4 + 1)
 
 int git__utf8_to_16(wchar_t *dest, size_t length, const char *src);
 int git__utf16_to_8(char *dest, const wchar_t *src);
diff --git a/tests-clar/clar_libgit2.c b/tests-clar/clar_libgit2.c
index de0e41bf7..34d54cd94 100644
--- a/tests-clar/clar_libgit2.c
+++ b/tests-clar/clar_libgit2.c
@@ -56,17 +56,17 @@ void cl_git_rewritefile(const char *filename, const char *new_content)
 
 char *cl_getenv(const char *name)
 {
-	wchar_t name_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t name_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 	DWORD alloc_len;
 	wchar_t *value_utf16;
 	char *value_utf8;
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(name_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH, name);
+	git__utf8_to_16(name_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, name);
 	alloc_len = GetEnvironmentVariableW(name_utf16, NULL, 0);
 	if (alloc_len <= 0)
 		return NULL;
 
-	alloc_len = GIT_WIN_PATH;
+	alloc_len = GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF8;
 	cl_assert(value_utf16 = git__calloc(alloc_len, sizeof(wchar_t)));
 
 	GetEnvironmentVariableW(name_utf16, value_utf16, alloc_len);
@@ -81,13 +81,13 @@ char *cl_getenv(const char *name)
 
 int cl_setenv(const char *name, const char *value)
 {
-	wchar_t name_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	wchar_t value_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t name_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	wchar_t value_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(name_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH, name);
+	git__utf8_to_16(name_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, name);
 
 	if (value) {
-		git__utf8_to_16(value_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH, value);
+		git__utf8_to_16(value_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, value);
 		cl_assert(SetEnvironmentVariableW(name_utf16, value_utf16));
 	} else {
 		/* Windows XP returns 0 (failed) when passing NULL for lpValue when
@@ -107,12 +107,12 @@ int cl_setenv(const char *name, const char *value)
  * the source is a directory, a child of the source). */
 int cl_rename(const char *source, const char *dest)
 {
-	wchar_t source_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH];
-	wchar_t dest_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH];
+	wchar_t source_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
+	wchar_t dest_utf16[GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16];
 	unsigned retries = 1;
 
-	git__utf8_to_16(source_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH, source);
-	git__utf8_to_16(dest_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH, dest);
+	git__utf8_to_16(source_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, source);
+	git__utf8_to_16(dest_utf16, GIT_WIN_PATH_UTF16, dest);
 
 	while (!MoveFileW(source_utf16, dest_utf16)) {
 		/* Only retry if the error is ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED;