diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 182498bbb48526..d36c1573d3a1bc 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1530,41 +1530,6 @@ static const char *quote_arg_msys2(const char *arg)
 	return strbuf_detach(&buf, 0);
 }
 
-static const char *parse_interpreter(const char *cmd)
-{
-	static char buf[MAX_PATH];
-	char *p, *opt;
-	int n, fd;
-
-	/* don't even try a .exe */
-	n = strlen(cmd);
-	if (n >= 4 && !strcasecmp(cmd+n-4, ".exe"))
-		return NULL;
-
-	fd = open(cmd, O_RDONLY);
-	if (fd < 0)
-		return NULL;
-	n = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf)-1);
-	close(fd);
-	if (n < 4)	/* at least '#!/x' and not error */
-		return NULL;
-
-	if (buf[0] != '#' || buf[1] != '!')
-		return NULL;
-	buf[n] = '\0';
-	p = buf + strcspn(buf, "\r\n");
-	if (!*p)
-		return NULL;
-
-	*p = '\0';
-	if (!(p = strrchr(buf+2, '/')) && !(p = strrchr(buf+2, '\\')))
-		return NULL;
-	/* strip options */
-	if ((opt = strchr(p+1, ' ')))
-		*opt = '\0';
-	return p+1;
-}
-
 /*
  * exe_only means that we only want to detect .exe files, but not scripts
  * (which do not have an extension)
@@ -2151,26 +2116,20 @@ pid_t mingw_spawnvpe(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **deltaenv,
 		pid = -1;
 	}
 	else {
-		const char *interpr = parse_interpreter(prog);
-
-		if (interpr) {
-			const char *argv0 = argv[0];
-			char *iprog = path_lookup(interpr, 1);
+		const char *interpr = "env.exe";
+		const char *argv0 = argv[0];
+		char *iprog = path_lookup(interpr, 1);
+		if (!iprog) {
+			errno = ENOENT;
+			pid = -1;
+		}
+		else {
 			argv[0] = prog;
-			if (!iprog) {
-				errno = ENOENT;
-				pid = -1;
-			}
-			else {
-				pid = mingw_spawnve_fd(iprog, argv, deltaenv, dir, interpr,
-						       fhin, fhout, fherr);
-				free(iprog);
-			}
+			pid = mingw_spawnve_fd(iprog, argv, deltaenv, dir, interpr,
+							fhin, fhout, fherr);
+			free(iprog);
 			argv[0] = argv0;
 		}
-		else
-			pid = mingw_spawnve_fd(prog, argv, deltaenv, dir, NULL,
-					       fhin, fhout, fherr);
 		free(prog);
 	}
 	return pid;
@@ -2178,12 +2137,10 @@ pid_t mingw_spawnvpe(const char *cmd, const char **argv, char **deltaenv,
 
 static int try_shell_exec(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 {
-	const char *interpr = parse_interpreter(cmd);
+	const char *interpr = "env.exe";
 	char *prog;
 	int pid = 0;
 
-	if (!interpr)
-		return 0;
 	prog = path_lookup(interpr, 1);
 	if (prog) {
 		int exec_id;