diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index fe609239dd..cac18cc3da 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1398,8 +1398,13 @@ static pid_t mingw_spawnve_fd(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **deltaen
 			      const char *dir,
 			      int prepend_cmd, int fhin, int fhout, int fherr)
 {
-	STARTUPINFOW si;
+	static int restrict_handle_inheritance = 1;
+	STARTUPINFOEXW si;
 	PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
+	LPPROC_THREAD_ATTRIBUTE_LIST attr_list = NULL;
+	HANDLE stdhandles[3];
+	DWORD stdhandles_count = 0;
+	SIZE_T size;
 	struct strbuf args;
 	wchar_t wcmd[MAX_PATH], wdir[MAX_PATH], *wargs, *wenvblk = NULL;
 	unsigned flags = CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT;
@@ -1435,11 +1440,23 @@ static pid_t mingw_spawnve_fd(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **deltaen
 		CloseHandle(cons);
 	}
 	memset(&si, 0, sizeof(si));
-	si.cb = sizeof(si);
-	si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
-	si.hStdInput = winansi_get_osfhandle(fhin);
-	si.hStdOutput = winansi_get_osfhandle(fhout);
-	si.hStdError = winansi_get_osfhandle(fherr);
+	si.StartupInfo.cb = sizeof(si);
+	si.StartupInfo.hStdInput = winansi_get_osfhandle(fhin);
+	si.StartupInfo.hStdOutput = winansi_get_osfhandle(fhout);
+	si.StartupInfo.hStdError = winansi_get_osfhandle(fherr);
+
+	/* The list of handles cannot contain duplicates */
+	if (si.StartupInfo.hStdInput != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+		stdhandles[stdhandles_count++] = si.StartupInfo.hStdInput;
+	if (si.StartupInfo.hStdOutput != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE &&
+	    si.StartupInfo.hStdOutput != si.StartupInfo.hStdInput)
+		stdhandles[stdhandles_count++] = si.StartupInfo.hStdOutput;
+	if (si.StartupInfo.hStdError != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE &&
+	    si.StartupInfo.hStdError != si.StartupInfo.hStdInput &&
+	    si.StartupInfo.hStdError != si.StartupInfo.hStdOutput)
+		stdhandles[stdhandles_count++] = si.StartupInfo.hStdError;
+	if (stdhandles_count)
+		si.StartupInfo.dwFlags |= STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
 
 	if (*argv && !strcmp(cmd, *argv))
 		wcmd[0] = L'\0';
@@ -1472,16 +1489,97 @@ static pid_t mingw_spawnve_fd(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **deltaen
 	wenvblk = make_environment_block(deltaenv);
 
 	memset(&pi, 0, sizeof(pi));
-	ret = CreateProcessW(*wcmd ? wcmd : NULL, wargs, NULL, NULL, TRUE,
-		flags, wenvblk, dir ? wdir : NULL, &si, &pi);
+	if (restrict_handle_inheritance && stdhandles_count &&
+	    (InitializeProcThreadAttributeList(NULL, 1, 0, &size) ||
+	     GetLastError() == ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER) &&
+	    (attr_list = (LPPROC_THREAD_ATTRIBUTE_LIST)
+			(HeapAlloc(GetProcessHeap(), 0, size))) &&
+	    InitializeProcThreadAttributeList(attr_list, 1, 0, &size) &&
+	    UpdateProcThreadAttribute(attr_list, 0,
+				      PROC_THREAD_ATTRIBUTE_HANDLE_LIST,
+				      stdhandles,
+				      stdhandles_count * sizeof(HANDLE),
+				      NULL, NULL)) {
+		si.lpAttributeList = attr_list;
+		flags |= EXTENDED_STARTUPINFO_PRESENT;
+	}
+
+	ret = CreateProcessW(*wcmd ? wcmd : NULL, wargs, NULL, NULL,
+			     stdhandles_count ? TRUE : FALSE,
+			     flags, wenvblk, dir ? wdir : NULL,
+			     &si.StartupInfo, &pi);
+
+	/*
+	 * On Windows 2008 R2, it seems that specifying certain types of handles
+	 * (such as FILE_TYPE_CHAR or FILE_TYPE_PIPE) will always produce an
+	 * error. Rather than playing finicky and fragile games, let's just try
+	 * to detect this situation and simply try again without restricting any
+	 * handle inheritance. This is still better than failing to create
+	 * processes.
+	 */
+	if (!ret && restrict_handle_inheritance && stdhandles_count) {
+		DWORD err = GetLastError();
+		struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+		if (err != ERROR_NO_SYSTEM_RESOURCES &&
+		    /*
+		     * On Windows 7 and earlier, handles on pipes and character
+		     * devices are inherited automatically, and cannot be
+		     * specified in the thread handle list. Rather than trying
+		     * to catch each and every corner case (and running the
+		     * chance of *still* forgetting a few), let's just fall
+		     * back to creating the process without trying to limit the
+		     * handle inheritance.
+		     */
+		    !(err == ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER &&
+		      GetVersion() >> 16 < 9200) &&
+		    !getenv("SUPPRESS_HANDLE_INHERITANCE_WARNING")) {
+			DWORD fl = 0;
+			int i;
+
+			setenv("SUPPRESS_HANDLE_INHERITANCE_WARNING", "1", 1);
+
+			for (i = 0; i < stdhandles_count; i++) {
+				HANDLE h = stdhandles[i];
+				strbuf_addf(&buf, "handle #%d: %p (type %lx, "
+					    "handle info (%d) %lx\n", i, h,
+					    GetFileType(h),
+					    GetHandleInformation(h, &fl),
+					    fl);
+			}
+			strbuf_addstr(&buf, "\nThis is a bug; please report it "
+				      "at\nhttps://github.com/git-for-windows/"
+				      "git/issues/new\n\n"
+				      "To suppress this warning, please set "
+				      "the environment variable\n\n"
+				      "\tSUPPRESS_HANDLE_INHERITANCE_WARNING=1"
+				      "\n");
+		}
+		restrict_handle_inheritance = 0;
+		flags &= ~EXTENDED_STARTUPINFO_PRESENT;
+		ret = CreateProcessW(*wcmd ? wcmd : NULL, wargs, NULL, NULL,
+				     TRUE, flags, wenvblk, dir ? wdir : NULL,
+				     &si.StartupInfo, &pi);
+		if (ret && buf.len) {
+			errno = err_win_to_posix(GetLastError());
+			warning("failed to restrict file handles (%ld)\n\n%s",
+				err, buf.buf);
+		}
+		strbuf_release(&buf);
+	} else if (!ret)
+		errno = err_win_to_posix(GetLastError());
+
+	if (si.lpAttributeList)
+		DeleteProcThreadAttributeList(si.lpAttributeList);
+	if (attr_list)
+		HeapFree(GetProcessHeap(), 0, attr_list);
 
 	free(wenvblk);
 	free(wargs);
 
-	if (!ret) {
-		errno = ENOENT;
+	if (!ret)
 		return -1;
-	}
+
 	CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/t/t0061-run-command.sh b/t/t0061-run-command.sh
index 473a3405ef..7d599675e3 100755
--- a/t/t0061-run-command.sh
+++ b/t/t0061-run-command.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ cat >hello-script <<-EOF
 	cat hello-script
 EOF
 
-test_expect_failure MINGW 'subprocess inherits only std handles' '
+test_expect_success MINGW 'subprocess inherits only std handles' '
 	test-tool run-command inherited-handle
 '