diff --git a/app/Makefile b/app/Makefile
index ba463ce..d2bcd33 100644
--- a/app/Makefile
+++ b/app/Makefile
@@ -150,6 +150,11 @@ ifneq ($(LDFLAGS_JQ),)
   CFLAGS+= -DUSE_JQ
 endif
 
+STATIC_LIB_FLAGS=
+ifneq ($(STATIC_LIBS),)
+  STATIC_LIB_FLAGS=-static ${STATIC_LIBS}
+endif
+
 STANDALONE_PFX=${BUILD_DIR}/bin/zsv_
 
 TARGETS=$(addprefix ${STANDALONE_PFX},$(addsuffix ${EXE},${SOURCES})) ${CLI}
@@ -279,7 +284,7 @@ ${CLI_APP_OBJECT} ${CLI_OBJECTS}: ${CLI_OBJ_PFX}%.o: %.c ${UTF8PROC_SRC}/utf8pro
 
 ${CLI}: cli_internal.c.in cli_internal.h cli_internal.h.in ${CLI_APP_OBJECT} ${CLI_OBJECTS} ${OBJECTS} ${UTF8PROC_OBJECT} cli_ini.c ${INIH_OBJECT} ${LIBZSV_INSTALL} ${MORE_OBJECTS}
 	@mkdir -p `dirname "$@"`
-	${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${CFLAGS_EXE} -I${INCLUDE_DIR} -o $@ ${CLI_APP_OBJECT} ${CLI_OBJECTS} ${OBJECTS} ${UTF8PROC_OBJECT} ${INIH_OBJECT} -L${LIBDIR} -lzsv ${LDFLAGS} ${LDFLAGS_OPT} ${MORE_OBJECTS} ${MORE_SOURCE} ${MORE_LIBS}
+	${CC} ${CFLAGS} ${CFLAGS_EXE} -I${INCLUDE_DIR} -o $@ ${CLI_APP_OBJECT} ${CLI_OBJECTS} ${OBJECTS} ${UTF8PROC_OBJECT} ${INIH_OBJECT} -L${LIBDIR} -lzsv ${LDFLAGS} ${LDFLAGS_OPT} ${MORE_OBJECTS} ${MORE_SOURCE} ${MORE_LIBS} ${STATIC_LIB_FLAGS}
 	@echo Built $@
 
 # cli_internal: cli_internal.c.in cli_internal.h cli_internal.h.in
@@ -328,7 +333,7 @@ ${CLI} ${STANDALONE_PFX}jq${EXE}: MORE_LIBS+=${LDFLAGS_JQ}
 
 ${STANDALONE_PFX}%${EXE}: %.c ${OBJECTS} ${MORE_OBJECTS} ${LIBZSV_INSTALL} ${UTF8PROC_OBJECT}
 	@mkdir -p `dirname "$@"`
-	${CC} ${CFLAGS} -I${INCLUDE_DIR} -o $@ $< ${OBJECTS} ${MORE_OBJECTS} ${MORE_SOURCE} -L${LIBDIR} -lzsv ${UTF8PROC_OBJECT} ${LDFLAGS} ${LDFLAGS_OPT} ${MORE_LIBS}
+	${CC} ${CFLAGS} -I${INCLUDE_DIR} -o $@ $< ${OBJECTS} ${MORE_OBJECTS} ${MORE_SOURCE} -L${LIBDIR} -lzsv ${UTF8PROC_OBJECT} ${LDFLAGS} ${LDFLAGS_OPT} ${MORE_LIBS} ${STATIC_LIB_FLAGS}
 
 ${BUILD_DIR}/external/sqlite3/sqlite3_and_csv_vtab.o: ${BUILD_DIR}/external/%.o : external/%.c
 	@mkdir -p `dirname "$@"`
diff --git a/app/cli.c b/app/cli.c
index 2fda47c..54e78de 100644
--- a/app/cli.c
+++ b/app/cli.c
@@ -400,8 +400,8 @@ char havearg(const char *arg,
   if(len > min_len1)
     min_len1 = len;
 
-  if(!zsv_strincmp((const unsigned char *)arg, min_len1,
-                     (const unsigned char *)form1, min_len1))
+  if(!zsv_strincmp_ascii((const unsigned char *)arg, min_len1,
+			 (const unsigned char *)form1, min_len1))
     return 1;
 
   if(form2) {
@@ -409,8 +409,8 @@ char havearg(const char *arg,
       min_len2 = strlen(form2);
     if(len > min_len2)
       min_len2 = len;
-    if(!zsv_strincmp((const unsigned char *)arg, min_len2,
-                       (const unsigned char *)form2, min_len2))
+    if(!zsv_strincmp_ascii((const unsigned char *)arg, min_len2,
+			   (const unsigned char *)form2, min_len2))
       return 1;
   }
   return 0;
diff --git a/app/external/jq.diff b/app/external/jq.diff
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a604349
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/external/jq.diff
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+diff --git a/src/jv.c b/src/jv.c
+index e1fb209..69c18fc 100644
+--- a/src/jv.c
++++ b/src/jv.c
+@@ -333,6 +333,7 @@ BOOL WINAPI DllMain(HINSTANCE hinstDLL,
+     }
+ }
+ 
++#if !defined(HAVE_PTHREAD_KEY_CREATE)
+ int
+ pthread_key_create(pthread_key_t *key, void (*dtor)(void *))
+ {
+@@ -491,6 +492,9 @@ pthread_getspecific(pthread_key_t key)
+ #else
+ #include <pthread.h>
+ #endif
++#else
++#include <pthread.h>
++#endif
+ 
+ static pthread_key_t dec_ctx_key;
+ static pthread_key_t dec_ctx_dbl_key;
+diff --git a/src/jv_thread.h b/src/jv_thread.h
+index a34cd08..c06ff6b 100644
+--- a/src/jv_thread.h
++++ b/src/jv_thread.h
+@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
+ #ifndef JV_THREAD_H
+ #define JV_THREAD_H
+ 
+-#ifdef WIN32
++#if defined(WIN32) && !defined(HAVE_PTHREAD_KEY_CREATE)
+ #include <windows.h>
+ #include <winnt.h>
+ #include <errno.h>
diff --git a/app/utils/string.c b/app/utils/string.c
index 566709a..57940cb 100644
--- a/app/utils/string.c
+++ b/app/utils/string.c
@@ -24,13 +24,13 @@ static utf8proc_int32_t utf8proc_tolower1(utf8proc_int32_t codepoint, void *data
 }
 
 static unsigned char *utf8proc_tolower_str(const unsigned char *str, size_t *len) {
+  // note: for some unknown reason, this func intermittently can fail on win (compiled w mingw64) when called in a tight loop
+  // may be related to realloc()
   utf8proc_uint8_t *output;
-  utf8proc_option_t options;
+  utf8proc_option_t options = { 0 };
   /* options = UTF8PROC_COMPOSE | UTF8PROC_COMPAT
   | UTF8PROC_CASEFOLD | UTF8PROC_IGNORE | UTF8PROC_STRIPMARK | UTF8PROC_STRIPCC | UTF8PROC_STRIPNA;
   */
-  memset(&options, 0, sizeof(options));
-
   // utf8proc_map_custom allocates new mem
   options = UTF8PROC_STRIPNA;
   *len = (size_t) utf8proc_map_custom((const utf8proc_uint8_t *)str, (utf8proc_ssize_t)*len, &output,
@@ -85,19 +85,7 @@ int zsv_stricmp(const unsigned char *s1, const unsigned char *s2) {
   return zsv_strincmp(s1, strlen((const char *)s1), s2, strlen((const char *)s2));
 }
 
-int zsv_strincmp(const unsigned char *s1, size_t len1, const unsigned char *s2, size_t len2) {
-#ifndef NO_UTF8PROC
-  unsigned char *lc1 = zsv_strtolowercase(s1, &len1);
-  unsigned char *lc2 = zsv_strtolowercase(s2, &len2);
-  int result;
-  if(VERY_UNLIKELY(!lc1 || !lc2))
-    fprintf(stderr, "Out of memory!\n"), result = -2;
-  else
-    result = strcmp((char *)lc1, (char *)lc2);
-  free(lc1);
-  free(lc2);
-  return result;
-#else
+int zsv_strincmp_ascii(const unsigned char *s1, size_t len1, const unsigned char *s2, size_t len2) {
   while(len1) {
     if(!*s1)
       return *s2 == 0 ? 0 : -1;
@@ -111,6 +99,22 @@ int zsv_strincmp(const unsigned char *s1, size_t len1, const unsigned char *s2,
       return c1 < c2 ? -1 : 1;
   }
   return 0;
+}
+
+int zsv_strincmp(const unsigned char *s1, size_t len1, const unsigned char *s2, size_t len2) {
+#ifndef NO_UTF8PROC
+  unsigned char *lc1 = zsv_strtolowercase(s1, &len1);
+  unsigned char *lc2 = zsv_strtolowercase(s2, &len2);
+  int result;
+  if(VERY_UNLIKELY(!lc1 || !lc2))
+    fprintf(stderr, "Out of memory!\n"), result = -2;
+  else
+    result = strcmp((char *)lc1, (char *)lc2);
+  free(lc1);
+  free(lc2);
+  return result;
+#else
+  return zsv_strincmp_ascii(s1, len1, s2, len2);
 #endif
 }
 
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 85c7a00..26929d0 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -544,7 +544,11 @@ if [ "$usejq" = "yes" ] || [ "$usejq" = "auto" ] ; then
     if ! [ "$LDFLAGS_JQ" = "" ] ; then
         tryldflag LDFLAGS_JQ -lm
         tryldflag LDFLAGS_JQ -lshlwapi
-        tryldflag LDFLAGS_JQ -pthread
+	if [ "$MINGW" = "1" ]; then
+	    tryldflag LDFLAGS_TMP -pthread && STATIC_LIBS="$STATIC_LIBS -pthread"
+	else
+            tryldflag LDFLAGS_JQ -pthread
+	fi
     fi
 fi
 
@@ -603,6 +607,7 @@ CFLAGS_OPT = $CFLAGS_OPT
 LDFLAGS_OPT = $LDFLAGS_OPT
 LDFLAGS_TERMCAP = $LDFLAGS_TERMCAP
 LDFLAGS_JQ = $LDFLAGS_JQ
+STATIC_LIBS = $STATIC_LIBS
 CFLAGS_AUTO = $CFLAGS_AUTO
 CFLAGS_LTO = $CFLAGS_LTO
 LDFLAGS_AUTO = $LDFLAGS_AUTO
diff --git a/include/zsv/utils/string.h b/include/zsv/utils/string.h
index 3d66ec1..039fd4b 100644
--- a/include/zsv/utils/string.h
+++ b/include/zsv/utils/string.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ const unsigned char *zsv_strstr(const unsigned char *hay, const unsigned char *n
 
 /*
  * zsv_stricmp, zsv_strincmp(): case-insensitive comparison (unicode-compatible if built with utf8proc)
+ * zsv_strincmp_ascii: ascii case-insensitive comparison
  *
  * @param   s1     string to convert
  * @param   len1   length of s1
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ const unsigned char *zsv_strstr(const unsigned char *hay, const unsigned char *n
  */
 int zsv_stricmp(const unsigned char *s1, const unsigned char *s2);
 int zsv_strincmp(const unsigned char *s1, size_t len1, const unsigned char *s2, size_t len2);
+int zsv_strincmp_ascii(const unsigned char *s1, size_t len1, const unsigned char *s2, size_t len2);
 
 unsigned char *zsv_strtrim(unsigned char * restrict s, size_t *lenp);
 
diff --git a/scripts/ci-install-libjq.sh b/scripts/ci-install-libjq.sh
index a1acf47..8ba62bb 100755
--- a/scripts/ci-install-libjq.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci-install-libjq.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,15 @@ echo "[INF] Running $0"
 
 echo "[INF] Building and installing jq (libjq)"
 
+echo "[INF] Will apply a patch to jq so that when compiling with mingw64,"
+echo "[INF] jq will not create its own functions that conflict with pthread functions"
+echo "[INF] and which in turn prevent mingw64 from statically linking libwinpthread-1.dll"
+echo "[INF] If you are building on your target system, this is not necessary, and the"
+echo "[INF] standard jq distro can be used"
+
+THIS_SCRIPT_PATH=$(dirname "$0")
+THIS_SCRIPT_PATH=$(cd "$THIS_SCRIPT_PATH" && pwd)
+JQ_PATCH="$THIS_SCRIPT_PATH/../app/external/jq.diff"
 JQ_GIT_URL='https://github.com/stedolan/jq.git'
 JQ_GIT_COMMIT='cff5336'
 JQ_DIR="$PWD/jq"
@@ -15,6 +24,7 @@ JQ_LIB_DIR="$JQ_PREFIX/lib"
 
 echo "[INF] PWD:              $PWD"
 echo "[INF] CC:               $CC"
+echo "[INF] JQ_PATCH:    $JQ_PATCH"
 echo "[INF] JQ_GIT_URL:       $JQ_GIT_URL"
 echo "[INF] JQ_GIT_COMMIT:    $JQ_GIT_COMMIT"
 echo "[INF] JQ_DIR:           $JQ_DIR"
@@ -27,6 +37,8 @@ rm -rf "$JQ_DIR"
 git clone "$JQ_GIT_URL"
 cd jq
 git checkout "$JQ_GIT_COMMIT"
+echo "[INF] Applying patch"
+git apply "$JQ_PATCH" || exit 1
 
 echo "[INF] Configuring"
 autoreconf -fi
@@ -39,7 +51,6 @@ if [ "$CC" = 'x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc' ]; then
     --disable-docs \
     --disable-shared \
     --enable-static \
-    --target=win64-x86_64 \
     --host=x86_64-w64-mingw32
 else
   CFLAGS='-O3' ./configure \