diff --git a/Makefile.target b/Makefile.target
index 68481a3a6c98007cadcae294fcdec3de8adacf73..7ed497942a6b5a5d63ef857b5888eb91bcf0f673 100644
--- a/Makefile.target
+++ b/Makefile.target
@@ -29,10 +29,17 @@ ifdef CONFIG_USER_ONLY
 QEMU_PROG=qemu-$(TARGET_ARCH2)
 else
 # system emulator name
+ifneq (,$(findstring -mwindows,$(LIBS)))
+# Terminate program name with a 'w' because the linker builds a windows executable.
+QEMU_PROGW=qemu-system-$(TARGET_ARCH2)w$(EXESUF)
+endif # windows executable
 QEMU_PROG=qemu-system-$(TARGET_ARCH2)$(EXESUF)
 endif
 
 PROGS=$(QEMU_PROG)
+ifdef QEMU_PROGW
+PROGS+=$(QEMU_PROGW)
+endif
 STPFILES=
 
 ifndef CONFIG_HAIKU
@@ -407,9 +414,16 @@ endif # CONFIG_LINUX_USER
 
 obj-$(CONFIG_GDBSTUB_XML) += gdbstub-xml.o
 
+ifdef QEMU_PROGW
+# The linker builds a windows executable. Make also a console executable.
+$(QEMU_PROGW): $(obj-y) $(obj-$(TARGET_BASE_ARCH)-y)
+	$(call LINK,$^)
+$(QEMU_PROG): $(QEMU_PROGW)
+	$(call quiet-command,$(OBJCOPY) --subsystem console $(QEMU_PROGW) $(QEMU_PROG),"  GEN   $(TARGET_DIR)$(QEMU_PROG)")
+else
 $(QEMU_PROG): $(obj-y) $(obj-$(TARGET_BASE_ARCH)-y)
 	$(call LINK,$^)
-
+endif
 
 gdbstub-xml.c: $(TARGET_XML_FILES) $(SRC_PATH)/scripts/feature_to_c.sh
 	$(call quiet-command,rm -f $@ && $(SHELL) $(SRC_PATH)/scripts/feature_to_c.sh $@ $(TARGET_XML_FILES),"  GEN   $(TARGET_DIR)$@")
diff --git a/qemu-thread-win32.c b/qemu-thread-win32.c
index fe9b93186352e77a90bc8a2a64cedd037eca16da..3524c8b785a4cb4a29798464143eb7fe629cb704 100644
--- a/qemu-thread-win32.c
+++ b/qemu-thread-win32.c
@@ -215,8 +215,6 @@ static unsigned __stdcall win32_start_routine(void *arg)
     if (data->mode == QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED) {
         g_free(data);
         data = NULL;
-    } else {
-        InitializeCriticalSection(&data->cs);
     }
     TlsSetValue(qemu_thread_tls_index, data);
     qemu_thread_exit(start_routine(thread_arg));
@@ -227,6 +225,7 @@ void qemu_thread_exit(void *arg)
 {
     QemuThreadData *data = TlsGetValue(qemu_thread_tls_index);
     if (data) {
+        assert(data->mode != QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
         data->ret = arg;
         EnterCriticalSection(&data->cs);
         data->exited = true;
@@ -258,6 +257,7 @@ void *qemu_thread_join(QemuThread *thread)
         CloseHandle(handle);
     }
     ret = data->ret;
+    assert(data->mode != QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
     DeleteCriticalSection(&data->cs);
     g_free(data);
     return ret;
@@ -288,6 +288,10 @@ void qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread,
     data->mode = mode;
     data->exited = false;
 
+    if (data->mode != QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED) {
+        InitializeCriticalSection(&data->cs);
+    }
+
     hThread = (HANDLE) _beginthreadex(NULL, 0, win32_start_routine,
                                       data, 0, &thread->tid);
     if (!hThread) {
@@ -314,6 +318,7 @@ HANDLE qemu_thread_get_handle(QemuThread *thread)
         return NULL;
     }
 
+    assert(data->mode != QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
     EnterCriticalSection(&data->cs);
     if (!data->exited) {
         handle = OpenThread(SYNCHRONIZE | THREAD_SUSPEND_RESUME, FALSE,