diff --git a/src/bin/leanc.in b/src/bin/leanc.in
index 7643a537c2bc..583a8a5c16dd 100755
--- a/src/bin/leanc.in
+++ b/src/bin/leanc.in
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 #   Beware of the licensing consequences since GMP is LGPL.
 
 set -e
-bindir=$(dirname $0)
+bindir="$(cd $(dirname $0); pwd)"  # ensure absolute path for Zig/Windows
 
 cflags=("-I$bindir/../include" @LEANC_EXTRA_FLAGS@)
 ldflags=("-L$bindir/../lib" "-L$bindir/../lib/lean" "${LEANC_GMP:--lgmp}" @LEAN_EXTRA_LINKER_FLAGS@)