diff --git a/src/hsts.c b/src/hsts.c
index 4d748acc..a0087a6b 100644
--- a/src/hsts.c
+++ b/src/hsts.c
@@ -348,7 +348,15 @@ hsts_file_access_valid (const char *filename)
   if (stat (filename, &st) == -1)
     return false;
 
-  return !(st.st_mode & S_IWOTH) && S_ISREG (st.st_mode);
+  return
+#ifndef WINDOWS
+      /*
+       * The world-writable concept is a Unix-centric notion.
+       * We bypass this test on Windows.
+       */
+      !(st.st_mode & S_IWOTH) &&
+#endif
+      S_ISREG (st.st_mode);
 }
 
 /* HSTS API */