diff --git a/src/include/ngspice/ngspice.h b/src/include/ngspice/ngspice.h
index 5c3a90fae..67c6b5211 100644
--- a/src/include/ngspice/ngspice.h
+++ b/src/include/ngspice/ngspice.h
@@ -193,6 +193,8 @@ extern double x_atanh(double);
 #define snprintf _snprintf
 #define isatty _isatty
 #define inline __inline
+#define popen _popen
+#define pclose _pclose
 /* NAN not available in MS VS 2008 */
 #ifndef NAN
     static const __int64 global_nan = 0x7ff8000000000000i64;
diff --git a/visualc/src/include/ngspice/config.h b/visualc/src/include/ngspice/config.h
index e6074867a..31abfb5ca 100644
--- a/visualc/src/include/ngspice/config.h
+++ b/visualc/src/include/ngspice/config.h
@@ -230,7 +230,9 @@
 /* #undef HAVE_NETINET_IN_H */
 
 /* Define to 1 if you have the `popen' function. */
-/* undef HAVE_POPEN */
+#ifdef CONSOLE
+#define HAVE_POPEN 1
+#endif
 
 /* Define to 1 if you have the <pwd.h> header file. */
 /* #undef HAVE_PWD_H */