diff --git a/build.bat b/build.bat
index 64dcc84ce..532ef80a9 100644
--- a/build.bat
+++ b/build.bat
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ set HAVE_64BIT_COORD=0
 set HAVE_PYTHON=1
 set HAVE_RUBY=1
 set MAKE_OPT=
+set HAVE_CURL=0
+set HAVE_EXPAT=0
+set HAVE_PTHREADS=0
 
 set arch=x64
 set compiler=msvc2017
@@ -64,6 +67,10 @@ for %%a in (%*) do (
           set "HAVE_QTBINDINGS=0"
         ) else if "!arg!" equ "-without-qt" (
           set "HAVE_QT=0"
+	  set "HAVE_CURL=1"
+	  set "HAVE_EXPAT=1"
+	  set "HAVE_PTHREADS=1"
+          set "HAVE_QTBINDINGS=0"
         ) else if "!arg!" equ "-with-64bit-coord" (
           set "HAVE_64BIT_COORD=1"
         ) else if "!arg!" equ "-without-64bit-coord" (
@@ -211,6 +218,9 @@ echo HAVE_QT:                  %HAVE_QT%
 echo HAVE_64BIT_COORD:         %HAVE_64BIT_COORD%
 echo HAVE_PYTHON:              %HAVE_PYTHON%
 echo HAVE_RUBY:                %HAVE_RUBY%
+echo HAVE_CURL:                %HAVE_CURL%
+echo HAVE_PTHREADS:            %HAVE_PTHREADS%
+echo HAVE_EXPAT:               %HAVE_EXPAT%
 echo MAKE_OPT:                 %MAKE_OPT%
 echo.
 echo qmake binary:             %option-qmake%
@@ -245,6 +255,9 @@ echo on
   "KLAYOUT_VERSION_REV=%KLAYOUT_VERSION_REV%" ^
   "HAVE_QTBINDINGS=%HAVE_QTBINDINGS%" ^
   "HAVE_QT=%HAVE_QT%" ^
+  "HAVE_EXPAT=%HAVE_EXPAT%" ^
+  "HAVE_CURL=%HAVE_CURL%" ^
+  "HAVE_PTHREADS=%HAVE_PTHREADS%" ^
   "HAVE_RUBY=%HAVE_RUBY%" ^
   "HAVE_PYTHON=%HAVE_PYTHON%" ^
   "HAVE_64BIT_COORD=%HAVE_64BIT_COORD%" ^
diff --git a/src/klayout.pri b/src/klayout.pri
index 645211009..d9d1fdc41 100644
--- a/src/klayout.pri
+++ b/src/klayout.pri
@@ -120,6 +120,10 @@ msvc {
 
   QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_WARN_ON += \
 
+  # as we're using default-constructed iterators as "null" we can't have
+  # checked iterators with MSVC
+  DEFINES += _ITERATOR_DEBUG_LEVEL=0
+
 } else {
 
   CONFIG(gcov) {
diff --git a/src/klayout.pro b/src/klayout.pro
index 0f96adf0a..0293b6315 100644
--- a/src/klayout.pro
+++ b/src/klayout.pro
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ plugins.depends += lib rdb db
 
 }
 
-unit_tests.depends += plugins $$MAIN_DEPENDS
+unit_tests.depends += plugins $$MAIN_DEPENDS $$LANG_DEPENDS
 
 RESOURCES += \
     plugins/tools/import/lay_plugin/layResources.qrc \
diff --git a/src/unit_tests/unit_test_main.cc b/src/unit_tests/unit_test_main.cc
index 04cd2c14b..cca0f4281 100644
--- a/src/unit_tests/unit_test_main.cc
+++ b/src/unit_tests/unit_test_main.cc
@@ -73,18 +73,78 @@
 
 static int main_cont (int &argc, char **argv);
 
-int
-main (int argc, char **argv)
+#ifdef _WIN32 // for VC++
+
+//  for VC++/MinGW provide a wrapper for main.
+#include <Windows.h>
+
+extern "C"
+int WINAPI 
+WinMain(HINSTANCE /*hInstance*/, HINSTANCE /*prevInstance*/, LPSTR /*lpCmdLine*/, int /*nShowCmd*/)
 {
-  int ret = rba::RubyInterpreter::initialize (argc, argv, &main_cont);
+  int argCount = 0;
+  LPWSTR *szArgList = CommandLineToArgvW(GetCommandLineW(), &argCount);
+
+  //  fail safe behaviour
+  if (!szArgList) {
+    MessageBox(NULL, L"Unable to parse command line", L"Error", MB_OK);
+    return 10;
+  }
+
+  char **argv = new char *[argCount];
+  for (int i = 0; i < argCount; i++) {
+    std::wstring a;
+    for (WCHAR *wc = szArgList [i]; *wc; ++wc) {
+      a += wchar_t ((unsigned int) *wc);
+    }
+    std::string aa = tl::to_string (a);
+    argv [i] = new char [aa.size () + 1];
+    strcpy (argv [i], aa.c_str ());
+  }
+
+  int ret = rba::RubyInterpreter::initialize (argCount, argv, &main_cont);
 
   //  NOTE: this needs to happen after the Ruby interpreter went down since otherwise the GC will
   //  access objects that are already cleaned up.
   tl::StaticObjects::cleanup ();
 
+  for (int i = 0; i < argCount; i++) {
+    delete[] argv [i];
+  }
+  delete[] argv;
+
+  LocalFree(szArgList);
   return ret;
 }
 
+#else
+
+int
+main(int a_argc, const char **a_argv)
+{
+  char **argv = new char *[a_argc];
+  for (int i = 0; i < a_argc; i++) {
+    tl::string aa = tl::system_to_string (a_argv[i]);
+    argv [i] = new char [aa.size () + 1];
+    strcpy (argv [i], aa.c_str ());
+  }
+
+  int ret = rba::RubyInterpreter::initialize (a_argc, argv, &main_cont);
+
+  //  NOTE: this needs to happen after the Ruby interpreter went down since otherwise the GC will
+  //  access objects that are already cleaned up.
+  tl::StaticObjects::cleanup ();
+
+  for (int i = 0; i < a_argc; i++) {
+    delete[] argv [i];
+  }
+  delete[] argv;
+
+  return ret;
+}
+
+#endif
+
 static bool
 run_test (tl::TestBase *t, bool editable, bool slow, int repeat)
 {
diff --git a/src/unit_tests/unit_tests.pro b/src/unit_tests/unit_tests.pro
index 648d1ec65..a5eb77c46 100644
--- a/src/unit_tests/unit_tests.pro
+++ b/src/unit_tests/unit_tests.pro
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ HEADERS += \
 
 !win32 {
   LIBS += -ldl
+} else {
+  LIBS += -lshell32
 }
 
 LIBS += -lklayout_gsi_test
@@ -38,5 +40,7 @@ LIBS += -lklayout_gsi_test
     }
   }
 
+} else {
+  CONFIG -= qt
 }