--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -394,16 +394,21 @@ if test -n "$CROSS_COMPILE" && test "$ta
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(AR, $AR "${target_alias}-ar" "${target}-ar", :)
     MOZ_PATH_PROGS(AS, $AS "${target_alias}-as" "${target}-as", :)
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(LD, $LD "${target_alias}-ld" "${target}-ld", :)
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(STRIP, $STRIP "${target_alias}-strip" "${target}-strip", :)
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(WINDRES, $WINDRES "${target_alias}-windres" "${target}-windres", :)
     AC_DEFINE(CROSS_COMPILE)
 else
     AC_PROG_CC
+    case "$target" in
+    *-mingw*)
+      # Work around the conftest.exe access problem on Windows (bug 545015)
+      sleep 1
+    esac
     AC_PROG_CXX
     AC_PROG_RANLIB
     MOZ_PATH_PROGS(AS, $AS as, $CC)
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(AR, ar, :)
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(LD, ld, :)
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(STRIP, strip, :)
     AC_CHECK_PROGS(WINDRES, windres, :)
     if test -z "$HOST_CC"; then