diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b112d0a..ca68cd3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 /src/parser.h
 /src/parser.c
 /doc/boxes.1
+/pcre2-*/
 
 # Linux Packaging
 doc/*.tar.gz
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 919bd7e..b4162ce 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 # The following line (GLOBALCONF) is the only line you should need to edit!
 GLOBALCONF = /usr/share/boxes
+# TODO update git call
 GIT_STATUS = ($(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)$(shell if [ $$(git status -s -uall | wc -l) -ge 1 ] ; then echo ", dirty" ; fi))
 BVERSION   = 1.3.1-SNAPSHOT
 
@@ -27,6 +28,9 @@ ALL_FILES  = LICENSE README.md README.Win32.md boxes-config
 DOC_FILES  = doc/boxes.1 doc/boxes.el
 PKG_NAME   = boxes-$(BVERSION)
 
+WIN_PCRE2_VERSION = 10.36
+WIN_PCRE2_DIR     = pcre2-$(WIN_PCRE2_VERSION)
+
 .PHONY: clean build win32 debug win32.debug infomsg replaceinfos test package win32.package package_common
 
 # - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
@@ -35,10 +39,18 @@ build debug: infomsg replaceinfos
 	$(MAKE) -C src BOXES_PLATFORM=unix $@
 
 win32: infomsg replaceinfos
-	$(MAKE) -C src BOXES_PLATFORM=win32 build
+	$(MAKE) -C src BOXES_PLATFORM=win32 C_INCLUDE_PATH=../$(WIN_PCRE2_DIR)/src LDFLAGS=-L../$(WIN_PCRE2_DIR)/.libs build
 
 win32.debug: infomsg replaceinfos
-	$(MAKE) -C src BOXES_PLATFORM=win32 debug
+	$(MAKE) -C src BOXES_PLATFORM=win32 C_INCLUDE_PATH=../$(WIN_PCRE2_DIR)/src LDFLAGS=-L../$(WIN_PCRE2_DIR)/.libs debug
+
+win32.pcre:
+	# build the pcre2 dependency (only needed on Windows MinGW)
+	curl -LO https://ftp.pcre.org/pub/pcre/$(WIN_PCRE2_DIR).tar.gz
+	tar xfz $(WIN_PCRE2_DIR).tar.gz
+	cd $(WIN_PCRE2_DIR)
+	./configure --disable-pcre2-8 --disable-pcre2-16 --enable-pcre2-32 --disable-shared --enable-never-backslash-C --enable-newline-is-anycrlf
+	$(MAKE)
 
 # - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 02fcf22..8bf0429 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ boxes: $(ALL_OBJ)
 	if [ "$(STRIP)" = "true" ] ; then strip $(BOXES_EXECUTABLE_NAME) ; fi
 
 boxes.exe: $(ALL_OBJ)
-	$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) $(ALL_OBJ) -o $(BOXES_EXECUTABLE_NAME) -lkernel32
+	$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) $(ALL_OBJ) -o $(BOXES_EXECUTABLE_NAME) -lkernel32 -l:libunistring.a -l:libpcre2-32.a -l:libiconv.a
 	if [ "$(STRIP)" = "true" ] ; then strip $(BOXES_EXECUTABLE_NAME) ; fi
 
 
diff --git a/src/boxes.c b/src/boxes.c
index 67320cb..ddea9a9 100644
--- a/src/boxes.c
+++ b/src/boxes.c
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ static void usage(FILE *st)
     fprintf(st, "        -k bool  leading/trailing blank line retention on removal\n");
     fprintf(st, "        -l       list available box designs w/ samples\n");
     fprintf(st, "        -m       mend box, i.e. remove it and redraw it afterwards\n");
-    fprintf(st, "        -n enc   Character encoding of input and output\n");
+    fprintf(st, "        -n enc   Character encoding of input and output [default: %s]\n", locale_charset());
     fprintf(st, "        -p fmt   padding [default: none]\n");
     /* fprintf(st, "        -q       modify command for needs of the web UI (undocumented)\n"); */
     fprintf(st, "        -r       remove box\n");