diff --git a/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_fileops.h b/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_fileops.h
index 73220cbd739..1bf4efca8a0 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_fileops.h
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_fileops.h
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ int    BLI_rename(const char *from, const char *to);
 int    BLI_delete(const char *path, int dir, int recursive);
 int    BLI_move(const char *path, const char *to);
 int    BLI_create_symlink(const char *path, const char *to);
+int    BLI_stat(const char *path, struct stat *buffer);
 
 /* Directories */
 
diff --git a/source/blender/blenlib/intern/storage.c b/source/blender/blenlib/intern/storage.c
index 0245a9c90af..047463f1e26 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenlib/intern/storage.c
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/intern/storage.c
@@ -493,6 +493,23 @@ int BLI_exists(const char *name)
 	return(st.st_mode);
 }
 
+
+#ifdef WIN32
+int BLI_stat(const char *path, struct stat *buffer)
+{
+	int r;
+	UTF16_ENCODE(path);
+	r=_wstat(path_16,buffer);
+	UTF16_UN_ENCODE(path);
+	return r;
+}
+#else
+int BLI_stat(const char *path, struct stat *buffer)
+{
+	return stat(path, buffer);
+}
+#endif
+
 /* would be better in fileops.c except that it needs stat.h so add here */
 int BLI_is_dir(const char *file)
 {
diff --git a/source/blender/imbuf/intern/util.c b/source/blender/imbuf/intern/util.c
index 62cf206dfec..99872192e32 100644
--- a/source/blender/imbuf/intern/util.c
+++ b/source/blender/imbuf/intern/util.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #include "BLI_blenlib.h"
+#include "BLI_fileops.h"
 
 #include "DNA_userdef_types.h"
 #include "BKE_global.h"
@@ -342,14 +343,14 @@ int imb_get_anim_type(const char * name)
 	/* stat test below fails on large files > 4GB */
 	if (isffmpeg(name)) return (ANIM_FFMPEG);
 #	endif
-	if (stat(name, &st) == -1) return(0);
+	if (BLI_stat(name, &st) == -1) return(0);
 	if (((st.st_mode) & S_IFMT) != S_IFREG) return(0);
 
 	if (isavi(name)) return (ANIM_AVI);
 
 	if (ismovie(name)) return (ANIM_MOVIE);
 #else
-	if (stat(name, &st) == -1) return(0);
+	if (BLI_stat(name, &st) == -1) return(0);
 	if (((st.st_mode) & S_IFMT) != S_IFREG) return(0);
 
 	if (ismovie(name)) return (ANIM_MOVIE);
@@ -359,6 +360,8 @@ int imb_get_anim_type(const char * name)
 #	ifdef WITH_FFMPEG
 	if (isffmpeg(name)) return (ANIM_FFMPEG);
 #	endif
+
+
 	if (isavi(name)) return (ANIM_AVI);
 #endif
 #ifdef WITH_REDCODE