diff --git a/sc2/build/unix/config_proginfo_host b/sc2/build/unix/config_proginfo_host
index 3602fb07a..a15ddfad6 100644
--- a/sc2/build/unix/config_proginfo_host
+++ b/sc2/build/unix/config_proginfo_host
@@ -177,7 +177,21 @@ LIB_zlib_DEPEND_DETECT_BIN="pkgconfig"
 # Describe the symbols (possibly) used:                                      #
 ##############################################################################
 
-HEADER_regex_EXTRA="#include <sys/types.h>"
+# HACK: The detected regex.h on Cygwin is from Cygwin itself, but as
+#       the precompiled SDL for Cygwin uses -mno-cygwin in both the
+#       CFLAGS and LDFLAGS, the actual build would fail when SDL is used.
+#       The workaround below is is a hack as the detection of regex should
+#       not depend on SDL, and in theory the program built using these
+#       scripts need not use SDL.
+case "$HOST_SYSTEM" in
+	CYGWIN*)
+		# Make sure Cygwin's regex.h is not detected.
+		HEADER_regex_EXTRA='#error "Forced Cygwin regex.h detection failure."'
+		;;
+	*)
+		HEADER_regex_EXTRA="#include <sys/types.h>"
+		;;
+esac
 
 SYMBOL_readdir_r_EXTRA="#include <dirent.h>"