diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index bad51304170..03a5c20e71e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -302,7 +302,12 @@ def detect_modules(self):
         if have_unicode:
             exts.append( Extension('unicodedata', ['unicodedata.c']) )
         # access to ISO C locale support
-        exts.append( Extension('_locale', ['_localemodule.c']) )
+        if platform in ['cygwin']:
+            locale_libs = ['intl']
+        else:
+            locale_libs = []
+        exts.append( Extension('_locale', ['_localemodule.c'],
+                               libraries=locale_libs ) )
 
         # Modules with some UNIX dependencies -- on by default:
         # (If you have a really backward UNIX, select and socket may not be