diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e68021
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+name: build
+on: [push, pull_request, workflow_dispatch]
+
+jobs:
+  windows:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout exgine
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          path: exgine
+          submodules: 'recursive'
+      - name: Install Dependencies
+        run: |
+          sudo apt update
+          sudo apt install -y build-essential cmake
+          sudo apt install libwayland-dev libxkbcommon-dev xorg-dev
+          sudo apt install -y mingw-w64 mingw-w64-tools ninja-build libpthread-stubs0-dev
+      - name: Build
+        run: (cd exgine && bash windows.sh)
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: exgine_windows-x64
+          path: |
+            build/starter.exe
+  linux:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout exgine
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          path: exgine
+          submodules: 'recursive'
+      - name: Install Dependencies
+        run: |
+          sudo apt update
+          sudo apt install -y build-essential cmake
+          sudo apt install libwayland-dev libxkbcommon-dev xorg-dev
+      - name: Configure
+        run: cmake -Bbuild -Hexgine -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$PWD/install
+      - name: Build
+        run: cmake --build build --config Release -j2
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: exgine_linux-x64
+          path: |
+            build/starter
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 98b8654..6e04803 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,10 @@ set (CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 # Project declaration
 project(ExgineRoot)
 
-if (WIN32)
+# we need to check if we're actually on windows, not just cross-compiling
+if (WIN32 AND NOT CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows")
+	message(STATUS "Not on Windows, not enabling unicode support")
+elseif (WIN32)
 	message(STATUS "Manually enabling unicode support")
     add_compile_options(/utf-8)
 endif()
diff --git a/windows.sh b/windows.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f58e63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/windows.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
+	-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Windows \
+	-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc \
+	-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ \
+	-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-static-libgcc -static-libstdc++ -static -std=c++20" \
+	-DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS="-static" \
+	-B build \
+	-G Ninja
+
+cmake --build build --config Release