diff --git a/bin/get_arch b/bin/get_arch
index f00e833ac..87a420728 100755
--- a/bin/get_arch
+++ b/bin/get_arch
@@ -58,7 +58,11 @@ then
   echo darwin
   exit 1
 fi
-
+if [ "$us" = "cygwin_nt-5.0" ]
+then
+  echo cygwin
+  exit 1
+fi
     
 echo unknown
 exit 0