diff --git a/git-difftool.perl b/git-difftool.perl
index 6f8bb73cd..17d4de661 100755
--- a/git-difftool.perl
+++ b/git-difftool.perl
@@ -338,7 +338,8 @@ sub main
 		gui => undef,
 		help => undef,
 		prompt => undef,
-		symlinks => $^O ne 'MSWin32' && $^O ne 'msys',
+		symlinks => $^O ne 'cygwin' &&
+				$^O ne 'MSWin32' && $^O ne 'msys',
 		tool_help => undef,
 	);
 	GetOptions('g|gui!' => \$opts{gui},