diff --git a/.github/workflows/meson.yml b/.github/workflows/meson.yml
index 27cf1f9cc..67842d43c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/meson.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/meson.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ jobs:
             name: Windows MSVC Release,
             os: windows-latest,
             msvc: true,
+            pkgmanager: choco,
+            shell: 'powershell',
             buildtype: release,
             args: '-Ddefault_library=static --wrap-mode=forcefallback'
           }
@@ -26,6 +28,9 @@ jobs:
             name: Windows MinGW Release,
             os: windows-latest,
             msvc: false,
+            pkgmanager: msys,
+            msystem: MINGW64,
+            shell: 'msys2 {0}',
             buildtype: debugoptimized,
             args: ''
           }
@@ -42,42 +47,60 @@ jobs:
             args: ''
           }
 
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        shell: ${{ matrix.config.shell || 'bash' }}
+
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: '0'
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+      - name: Setup MSys2
+        if: matrix.config.pkgmanager == 'msys'
+        uses: msys2/setup-msys2@v2
         with:
-          python-version: '3.x'
-
-      - name: Setup Meson
-        run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          pip install meson
+          msystem: ${{ matrix.config.msystem }}
+          update: false
 
       - name: Setup MSVC
         if: matrix.config.os == 'windows-latest' && matrix.config.msvc == true
         uses: ilammy/msvc-dev-cmd@v1
 
+      - name: Install dependecies with choco
+        if: matrix.config.pkgmanager == 'choco'
+        run: |
+          # for whatever reason choco insist on a reboot if it installs meson
+          choco install ninja nasm python
+          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+          pip install meson
+
       - name: Install dependencies
-        shell: bash
+        if: matrix.config.pkgmanager != 'choco'
         run: |
-          case "${{ matrix.config.os }}" in
-            windows-*)
-              choco install ninja nasm
+          case "${{ matrix.config.pkgmanager || matrix.config.os }}" in
+            msys)
+              pre="$MINGW_PACKAGE_PREFIX"
+              pacman --noconfirm -S \
+                $pre-gcc $pre-meson $pre-ninja nasm \
+                $pre-fribidi $pre-freetype $pre-harfbuzz \
+                $pre-fontconfig $pre-libpng
               ;;
             macos-*)
-              brew install nasm ninja pkg-config
+              brew install nasm ninja pkg-config meson
               ;;
             ubuntu-*)
               sudo apt-get update
-              sudo apt-get install ninja-build build-essential pkg-config nasm libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig1-dev libharfbuzz-dev libfribidi-dev
+              sudo apt-get install ninja-build build-essential pkg-config nasm \
+                libfreetype-dev libfontconfig-dev libharfbuzz-dev libfribidi-dev \
+                python3-pip
+              # Drop once 24.04 is available in GHA
+              pip3 install  meson
               ;;
           esac
 
       - name: Set up WrapDB
-        if: matrix.config.os == 'windows-latest' || matrix.config.os == 'macos-latest'
+        if: matrix.config.pkgmanager == 'choco' || matrix.config.os == 'macos-latest'
         run: |
           meson wrap update-db