diff --git a/builtin/clean.c b/builtin/clean.c
index aaba4af3c2..d5579da716 100644
--- a/builtin/clean.c
+++ b/builtin/clean.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ static const char *msg_would_remove = N_("Would remove %s\n");
 static const char *msg_skip_git_dir = N_("Skipping repository %s\n");
 static const char *msg_would_skip_git_dir = N_("Would skip repository %s\n");
 static const char *msg_warn_remove_failed = N_("failed to remove %s");
+static const char *msg_warn_lstat_failed = N_("could not lstat %s\n");
 
 enum color_clean {
 	CLEAN_COLOR_RESET = 0,
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ static int remove_dirs(struct strbuf *path, const char *prefix, int force_flag,
 		strbuf_setlen(path, len);
 		strbuf_addstr(path, e->d_name);
 		if (lstat(path->buf, &st))
-			; /* fall thru */
+			warning_errno(_(msg_warn_lstat_failed), path->buf);
 		else if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
 			if (remove_dirs(path, prefix, force_flag, dry_run, quiet, &gone))
 				ret = 1;
diff --git a/t/t7300-clean.sh b/t/t7300-clean.sh
index 7b36954d63..a2c45d1902 100755
--- a/t/t7300-clean.sh
+++ b/t/t7300-clean.sh
@@ -669,4 +669,16 @@ test_expect_success 'git clean -d skips untracked dirs containing ignored files'
 	test_path_is_missing foo/b/bb
 '
 
+test_expect_success MINGW 'handle clean & core.longpaths = false nicely' '
+	test_config core.longpaths false &&
+	a50=aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa &&
+	mkdir -p $a50$a50/$a50$a50/$a50$a50 &&
+	: >"$a50$a50/test.txt" 2>"$a50$a50/$a50$a50/$a50$a50/test.txt" &&
+	# create a temporary outside the working tree to hide from "git clean"
+	test_must_fail git clean -xdf 2>.git/err &&
+	# grepping for a strerror string is unportable but it is OK here with
+	# MINGW prereq
+	test_i18ngrep "too long" .git/err
+'
+
 test_done