diff --git a/Annex/Content.hs b/Annex/Content.hs
index 3bdaacd45a..a7535da1cd 100644
--- a/Annex/Content.hs
+++ b/Annex/Content.hs
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ winLocker :: (LockFile -> IO (Maybe LockHandle)) -> ContentLocker
 winLocker takelock _ (Just lockfile) = do
 	modifyContent lockfile $
 		void $ liftIO $ tryIO $
-			writeFile lockfile ""
+			writeFile (fromRawFilePath lockfile) ""
 	liftIO $ takelock lockfile
 -- never reached; windows always uses a separate lock file
 winLocker _ _ Nothing = return Nothing
diff --git a/Annex/Content/Presence.hs b/Annex/Content/Presence.hs
index 3d05765fcb..861288c0b9 100644
--- a/Annex/Content/Presence.hs
+++ b/Annex/Content/Presence.hs
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ inAnnexSafe key = inAnnex' (fromMaybe True) (Just False) go key
 					Nothing -> return is_locked
 					Just lockhandle -> do
 						dropLock lockhandle
-						void $ tryIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeLink lockfile
+						void $ tryIO $ removeWhenExistsWith removeLink (fromRawFilePath lockfile)
 						return is_unlocked
 			, return is_missing
 			)
diff --git a/Assistant.hs b/Assistant.hs
index a0bbd37047..d7e75e23de 100644
--- a/Assistant.hs
+++ b/Assistant.hs
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ startDaemon assistant foreground startdelay cannotrun listenhost startbrowser =
 		createAnnexDirectory (parentDir logfile)
 		ifM (liftIO $ isNothing <$> getEnv flag)
 			( liftIO $ withNullHandle $ \nullh -> do
-				loghandle <- openLog logfile
+				loghandle <- openLog (fromRawFilePath logfile)
 				e <- getEnvironment
 				cmd <- programPath
 				ps <- getArgs
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ startDaemon assistant foreground startdelay cannotrun listenhost startbrowser =
 				exitcode <- withCreateProcess p $ \_ _ _ pid ->
 					waitForProcess pid
 				exitWith exitcode
-			, start (Utility.Daemon.foreground (Just pidfile)) $
+			, start (Utility.Daemon.foreground (Just (fromRawFilePath pidfile))) $
 				case startbrowser of
 					Nothing -> Nothing
 					Just a -> Just $ a Nothing Nothing
diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index fe32908de6..e914ee55f6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ git-annex (8.20201117) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   * Fix hang when an external special remote program exited but
     the stderr pipe to it was left open, due to a daemon having inherited
     the file descriptor.
+  * Fix build on Windows.
 
  -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Mon, 16 Nov 2020 09:38:32 -0400
 
diff --git a/Logs/Transfer.hs b/Logs/Transfer.hs
index 2722702d2f..369c6a630f 100644
--- a/Logs/Transfer.hs
+++ b/Logs/Transfer.hs
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ checkTransfer t = debugLocks $ do
 	v <- liftIO $ lockShared lck
 	liftIO $ case v of
 		Nothing -> catchDefaultIO Nothing $
-			readTransferInfoFile Nothing tfile
+			readTransferInfoFile Nothing (fromRawFilePath tfile)
 		Just lockhandle -> do
 			dropLock lockhandle
 			cleanstale
diff --git a/Remote/Directory.hs b/Remote/Directory.hs
index 5c20894ee3..bc5d2ab3b6 100644
--- a/Remote/Directory.hs
+++ b/Remote/Directory.hs
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ removeDirGeneric topdir dir = do
 #ifdef mingw32_HOST_OS
 	{- Windows needs the files inside the directory to be writable
 	 - before it can delete them. -}
-	void $ tryIO $ mapM_ allowWrite =<< dirContents dir
+	void $ tryIO $ mapM_ (allowWrite . toRawFilePath) =<< dirContents dir
 #endif
 	tryNonAsync (removeDirectoryRecursive dir) >>= \case
 		Right () -> return ()
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ retrieveExportWithContentIdentifierM dir loc cid dest mkkey p =
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
 			=<< getFdStatus fd
 #else
-			=<< getFileStatus f
+			=<< R.getFileStatus f
 #endif
 		guardSameContentIdentifiers cont cid currcid
 
diff --git a/Utility/Daemon.hs b/Utility/Daemon.hs
index 683a59263e..9a34255897 100644
--- a/Utility/Daemon.hs
+++ b/Utility/Daemon.hs
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ lockPidFile pidfile = do
 	pid <- getPID
 	writeFile pidfile (show pid)
 	lckfile <- winLockFile pid pidfile
-	writeFile lckfile ""
+	writeFile (fromRawFilePath lckfile) ""
 	void $ lockExclusive lckfile
 #endif
 
diff --git a/doc/bugs/release_8.20201116_doesn__39__t_build_on_windows.mdwn b/doc/bugs/release_8.20201116_doesn__39__t_build_on_windows.mdwn
index 96ca8fee3a..a344855665 100644
--- a/doc/bugs/release_8.20201116_doesn__39__t_build_on_windows.mdwn
+++ b/doc/bugs/release_8.20201116_doesn__39__t_build_on_windows.mdwn
@@ -208,3 +208,5 @@ Annex -- my use case is more like local archiving and stuff. Git Annex does give
 my backup files around and it's always nice to have an external checksum (I use MD5E w/Annex) recorded
 "in the system" so that you can be sure your files are not altered due to bit rot, etc. In any case,
 big thanks go to Joey (et al.) for this wonderful tool you made!
+
+> [[fixed|done]] --[[Joey]]