diff --git a/lib/config-win32.h b/lib/config-win32.h
index 1318d2978..dd81ee1f7 100644
--- a/lib/config-win32.h
+++ b/lib/config-win32.h
@@ -313,6 +313,7 @@
 /* Define as the return type of signal handlers (int or void).  */
 #define RETSIGTYPE void
 
+/* Define ssize_t if it is not an available 'typedefed' type */
 #ifndef _SSIZE_T_DEFINED
 #if (defined(__WATCOMC__) && (__WATCOMC__ >= 1240)) || defined(__POCC__) || \
     defined(__MINGW32__)
diff --git a/src/config-win32.h b/src/config-win32.h
index eb0185856..8311fe755 100644
--- a/src/config-win32.h
+++ b/src/config-win32.h
@@ -180,6 +180,8 @@
 /* Define as the return type of signal handlers (int or void).  */
 #define RETSIGTYPE void
 
+/* Define ssize_t if it is not an available 'typedefed' type */
+#ifndef _SSIZE_T_DEFINED
 #if (defined(__WATCOMC__) && (__WATCOMC__ >= 1240)) || defined(__POCC__) || \
     defined(__MINGW32__)
 #elif defined(_WIN64)
@@ -187,6 +189,8 @@
 #else
 #define ssize_t int
 #endif
+#define _SSIZE_T_DEFINED
+#endif
 
 /* ---------------------------------------------------------------- */
 /*                          STRUCT RELATED                          */