diff --git a/sys-libs/zlib/zlib-1.2.11.ebuild b/sys-libs/zlib/zlib-1.2.11.ebuild
index f7df57e95c5d0..b587d42dae181 100644
--- a/sys-libs/zlib/zlib-1.2.11.ebuild
+++ b/sys-libs/zlib/zlib-1.2.11.ebuild
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@ src_prepare() {
 		cd contrib/minizip || die
 		eautoreconf
 	fi
+
+	case ${CHOST} in
+	*-mingw*|mingw*)
+		# uses preconfigured Makefile rather than configure script
+		multilib_copy_sources
+		;;
+	esac
 }
 
 echoit() { echo "$@"; "$@"; }