diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal.c b/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal.c
index e4b50df3b..2cf7a04ef 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal.c
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 #include <eal_options.h>
 #include <eal_private.h>
 
+#include "eal_windows.h"
+
  /* Allow the application to print its usage message too if set */
 static rte_usage_hook_t	rte_application_usage_hook;
 
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_lcore.c b/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_lcore.c
index b3a6c63af..82ee45413 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_lcore.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_lcore.c
@@ -2,12 +2,14 @@
  * Copyright(c) 2019 Intel Corporation
  */
 
+#include <pthread.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 
 #include <rte_common.h>
 
 #include "eal_private.h"
 #include "eal_thread.h"
+#include "eal_windows.h"
 
 /* global data structure that contains the CPU map */
 static struct _wcpu_map {
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_thread.c b/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_thread.c
index 9e4bbaa08..e149199a6 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_thread.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_thread.c
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <eal_thread.h>
 
 #include "eal_private.h"
+#include "eal_windows.h"
 
 RTE_DEFINE_PER_LCORE(unsigned int, _lcore_id) = LCORE_ID_ANY;
 RTE_DEFINE_PER_LCORE(unsigned int, _socket_id) = (unsigned int)SOCKET_ID_ANY;
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_windows.h b/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_windows.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fadd676b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/windows/eal_windows.h
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+ * Copyright (c) 2020 Dmitry Kozlyuk
+ */
+
+#ifndef _EAL_WINDOWS_H_
+#define _EAL_WINDOWS_H_
+
+/**
+ * @file Facilities private to Windows EAL
+ */
+
+#include <rte_windows.h>
+
+/**
+ * Create a map of processors and cores on the system.
+ */
+void eal_create_cpu_map(void);
+
+/**
+ * Create a thread.
+ *
+ * @param thread
+ *   The location to store the thread id if successful.
+ * @return
+ *   0 for success, -1 if the thread is not created.
+ */
+int eal_thread_create(pthread_t *thread);
+
+#endif /* _EAL_WINDOWS_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/meson.build b/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/meson.build
index 7d18dd52f..5fb1962ac 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/meson.build
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/meson.build
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ includes += include_directories('.')
 
 headers += files(
         'rte_os.h',
+        'rte_windows.h',
 )
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/pthread.h b/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/pthread.h
index b9dd18e56..cfd53f0b8 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/pthread.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/pthread.h
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 #ifndef _PTHREAD_H_
 #define _PTHREAD_H_
 
+#include <stdint.h>
+
 /**
  * This file is required to support the common code in eal_common_proc.c,
  * eal_common_thread.c and common\include\rte_per_lcore.h as Microsoft libc
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/rte_os.h b/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/rte_os.h
index e1e0378e6..510e39e03 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/rte_os.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/rte_os.h
@@ -8,20 +8,18 @@
 /**
  * This is header should contain any function/macro definition
  * which are not supported natively or named differently in the
- * Windows OS. Functions will be added in future releases.
+ * Windows OS. It must not include Windows-specific headers.
  */
 
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
-#include <windows.h>
-#include <basetsd.h>
-#include <pthread.h>
-#include <stdio.h>
-
-/* limits.h replacement */
-#include <stdlib.h>
+/* limits.h replacement, value as in <windows.h> */
 #ifndef PATH_MAX
 #define PATH_MAX _MAX_PATH
 #endif
@@ -31,8 +29,6 @@ extern "C" {
 /* strdup is deprecated in Microsoft libc and _strdup is preferred */
 #define strdup(str) _strdup(str)
 
-typedef SSIZE_T ssize_t;
-
 #define strtok_r(str, delim, saveptr) strtok_s(str, delim, saveptr)
 
 #define index(a, b)     strchr(a, b)
@@ -40,22 +36,14 @@ typedef SSIZE_T ssize_t;
 
 #define strncasecmp(s1, s2, count)        _strnicmp(s1, s2, count)
 
-/**
- * Create a thread.
- * This function is private to EAL.
- *
- * @param thread
- *   The location to store the thread id if successful.
- * @return
- *   0 for success, -1 if the thread is not created.
- */
-int eal_thread_create(pthread_t *thread);
+/* cpu_set macros implementation */
+#define RTE_CPU_AND(dst, src1, src2) CPU_AND(dst, src1, src2)
+#define RTE_CPU_OR(dst, src1, src2) CPU_OR(dst, src1, src2)
+#define RTE_CPU_FILL(set) CPU_FILL(set)
+#define RTE_CPU_NOT(dst, src) CPU_NOT(dst, src)
 
-/**
- * Create a map of processors and cores on the system.
- * This function is private to EAL.
- */
-void eal_create_cpu_map(void);
+/* as in <windows.h> */
+typedef long long ssize_t;
 
 #ifndef RTE_TOOLCHAIN_GCC
 static inline int
@@ -86,12 +74,6 @@ asprintf(char **buffer, const char *format, ...)
 }
 #endif /* RTE_TOOLCHAIN_GCC */
 
-/* cpu_set macros implementation */
-#define RTE_CPU_AND(dst, src1, src2) CPU_AND(dst, src1, src2)
-#define RTE_CPU_OR(dst, src1, src2) CPU_OR(dst, src1, src2)
-#define RTE_CPU_FILL(set) CPU_FILL(set)
-#define RTE_CPU_NOT(dst, src) CPU_NOT(dst, src)
-
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/rte_windows.h b/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/rte_windows.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed6e4c148
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/windows/include/rte_windows.h
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+ * Copyright (c) 2020 Dmitry Kozlyuk
+ */
+
+#ifndef _RTE_WINDOWS_H_
+#define _RTE_WINDOWS_H_
+
+/**
+ * @file Windows-specific facilities
+ *
+ * This file should be included by DPDK libraries and applications
+ * that need access to Windows API. It includes platform SDK headers
+ * in compatible order with proper options and defines error-handling macros.
+ */
+
+/* Disable excessive libraries. */
+#ifndef WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+#endif
+
+/* Must come first. */
+#include <windows.h>
+
+#include <basetsd.h>
+#include <psapi.h>
+
+/* Have GUIDs defined. */
+#ifndef INITGUID
+#define INITGUID
+#endif
+#include <initguid.h>
+
+/**
+ * Log GetLastError() with context, usually a Win32 API function and arguments.
+ */
+#define RTE_LOG_WIN32_ERR(...) \
+	RTE_LOG(DEBUG, EAL, RTE_FMT("GetLastError()=%lu: " \
+		RTE_FMT_HEAD(__VA_ARGS__,) "\n", GetLastError(), \
+		RTE_FMT_TAIL(__VA_ARGS__,)))
+
+#endif /* _RTE_WINDOWS_H_ */
