diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
index 7654f1bfd..e925ca1f8 100644
--- a/help.c
+++ b/help.c
@@ -127,7 +127,10 @@ static int is_executable(const char *name)
 	    !S_ISREG(st.st_mode))
 		return 0;
 
-#ifdef WIN32
+#if defined(WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__)
+#if defined(__CYGWIN__)
+if ((st.st_mode & S_IXUSR) == 0)
+#endif
 {	/* cannot trust the executable bit, peek into the file instead */
 	char buf[3] = { 0 };
 	int n;