diff --git a/setup/build_environment.py b/setup/build_environment.py
index 95c42c5a74..72810096c0 100644
--- a/setup/build_environment.py
+++ b/setup/build_environment.py
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ pyqt = {x:readvar(y) for x, y in (
     ('inc', 'QT_INSTALL_HEADERS'), ('lib', 'QT_INSTALL_LIBS')
 )}
 c = sipconfig.Configuration()
-pyqt['sip_bin'] = c.sip_bin
+pyqt['sip_bin'] = c.sip_bin + ('.exe' if iswindows and not c.sip_bin.endswith('.exe') else '')
+
 from PyQt5.QtCore import PYQT_CONFIGURATION
 pyqt['sip_flags'] = PYQT_CONFIGURATION['sip_flags']
 def get_sip_dir(q):
@@ -137,7 +138,7 @@ if iswindows:
     jpg_libs = ['jpeg']
     ft_lib_dirs = [sw_lib_dir]
     ft_libs = ['freetype']
-    ft_inc_dirs = [sw_inc_dir]
+    ft_inc_dirs = [os.path.join(sw_inc_dir, 'freetype2'), sw_inc_dir]
     zlib_inc_dirs = [sw_inc_dir]
     zlib_lib_dirs = [sw_lib_dir]
     zlib_libs = ['zlib']
diff --git a/setup/extensions.py b/setup/extensions.py
index 33c752ac8d..a92d111375 100644
--- a/setup/extensions.py
+++ b/setup/extensions.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ MT
 isunix = islinux or isosx or isbsd
 
 make = 'make' if isunix else NMAKE
-py_lib_dir = os.path.join(sys.prefix, 'lib')
+py_lib = os.path.join(sys.prefix, 'libs', 'python%d%d.lib' % sys.version_info[:2])
 
 class Extension(object):
 
@@ -579,14 +579,15 @@ class Build(Command):
         INCLUDEPATH += {sipinc} {pyinc}
         VERSION = {ver}
         win32 {{
-            LIBS += {py_lib_dir}
+            LIBS += {py_lib}
+            TARGET_EXT = .dll
         }}
         macx {{
             QMAKE_LFLAGS += "-undefined dynamic_lookup"
         }}
         ''').format(
             target=sip['target'], headers=' '.join(sip['headers'] + ext.headers), sources=' '.join(ext.sources + sip['sources']),
-            sipinc=pyqt['sip_inc_dir'], pyinc=sysconfig.get_python_inc(), py_lib_dir=py_lib_dir,
+            sipinc=pyqt['sip_inc_dir'], pyinc=sysconfig.get_python_inc(), py_lib=py_lib,
             ver=__version__
         )
         for incdir in ext.inc_dirs:
@@ -607,13 +608,16 @@ class Build(Command):
         if iswindows:
             qmc += ['-spec', 'win32-msvc2008']
         fext = 'dll' if iswindows else 'dylib' if isosx else 'so'
-        name = '%s%s.%s' % ('' if iswindows else 'lib', sip['target'], fext)
+        name = '%s%s.%s' % ('release/' if iswindows else 'lib', sip['target'], fext)
         try:
             os.chdir(src_dir)
             if self.newer(dest, sip['headers'] + sip['sources'] + ext.sources + ext.headers):
                 self.check_call([QMAKE] + qmc + [proname])
                 self.check_call([make]+([] if iswindows else ['-j%d'%(cpu_count() or 1)]))
                 shutil.copy2(os.path.realpath(name), dest)
+                if iswindows:
+                    shutil.copy2(name + '.manifest', dest + '.manifest')
+
         finally:
             os.chdir(cwd)
 
diff --git a/setup/installer/__init__.py b/setup/installer/__init__.py
index 04cb117bbf..95655079d9 100644
--- a/setup/installer/__init__.py
+++ b/setup/installer/__init__.py
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ class VMInstaller(Command):
 
     BUILD_CMD = 'ssh -t %s bash build-calibre'
     BUILD_PREFIX = ['#!/bin/bash', 'export CALIBRE_BUILDBOT=1']
-    BUILD_RSYNC  = [r'cd ~/build/{project}', Rsync.SYNC_CMD]
+    BUILD_RSYNC  = ['mkdir -p ~/build/{project}', r'cd ~/build/{project}', Rsync.SYNC_CMD]
     BUILD_CLEAN  = ['rm -rf dist/* build/* src/calibre/plugins/*']
     BUILD_BUILD  = ['python setup.py build',]
     FORCE_SHUTDOWN = 0  # number of seconds to wait before doing a forced power off (0 means disabled)