diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/gnu/mingw/MingwEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/gnu/mingw/MingwEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java
index c5dcb3c01a0..c2c0ec14a46 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/gnu/mingw/MingwEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/gnu/mingw/MingwEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java
@@ -1,195 +1,104 @@
 /*******************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2006, 2010 QNX Software Systems and others.
+ * Copyright (c) 2006, 2013 QNX Software Systems and others.
  * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
  * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
  * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
  * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
  *
  * Contributors:
- *     QNX Software Systems - Initial API and implementation
+ *     Doug Schaefer, QNX Software Systems - Initial API and implementation
+ *     Andrew Gvozdev                      - Ability to use different MinGW versions in different cfg
  *******************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.mingw;
 
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.CCorePlugin;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.envvar.IEnvironmentVariable;
-import org.eclipse.cdt.core.settings.model.util.CDataUtil;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.MinGW;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.envvar.EnvironmentVariableManager;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.IConfiguration;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.envvar.IBuildEnvironmentVariable;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.envvar.IConfigurationEnvironmentVariableSupplier;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.envvar.IEnvironmentVariableProvider;
-import org.eclipse.cdt.utils.PathUtil;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.internal.envvar.BuildEnvVar;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IPath;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Path;
-import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Platform;
 
 /**
- * @author Doug Schaefer
- *
  * @noextend This class is not intended to be subclassed by clients.
  */
 public class MingwEnvironmentVariableSupplier implements IConfigurationEnvironmentVariableSupplier {
 	private static final String ENV_PATH = "PATH"; //$NON-NLS-1$
-
-	private static String envPathValueCached = null;
-	private static String envMingwHomeValueCached = null;
-	private static IPath binDir = null;
-	private static IPath msysBinDir = null;
-
-	private static class MingwBuildEnvironmentVariable implements IBuildEnvironmentVariable {
-		private static final String PATH_SEPARATOR = ";"; //$NON-NLS-1$
-		private final String name;
-		private final String value;
-		private final int operation;
-
-		public MingwBuildEnvironmentVariable(String name, String value, int operation) {
-			this.name = name;
-			this.value = value;
-			this.operation = operation;
-		}
-
-		@Override
-		public String getName() {
-			return name;
-		}
-
-		@Override
-		public String getValue() {
-			return value;
-		}
-
-		@Override
-		public int getOperation() {
-			return operation;
-		}
-
-		@Override
-		public String getDelimiter() {
-			return PATH_SEPARATOR;
-		}
-	}
+	private static final String BACKSLASH = java.io.File.separator;
+	private static final String PATH_DELIMITER = EnvironmentVariableManager.getDefault().getDefaultDelimiter();
 
 	/**
 	 * @return location of $MINGW_HOME/bin folder on the file-system.
+	 * @deprecated. Deprecated as of CDT 8.2. Note that MinGW root path in general may depend on configuration.
 	 *
 	 * If you use this do not cache results to ensure user preferences are accounted for.
 	 * Please rely on internal caching.
 	 */
+	@Deprecated
 	public static IPath getBinDir() {
-		locateMingw();
+		IPath binDir = null;
+		String minGWHome = MinGW.getMinGWHome();
+		if (minGWHome != null) {
+			binDir = new Path(minGWHome).append("bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+		}
 		return binDir;
 	}
 
 	/**
 	 * @return location of $MINGW_HOME/msys/bin folder on the file-system.
+	 * @deprecated. Deprecated as of CDT 8.2. Note that MinGW root path in general may depend on configuration.
 	 *
 	 * If you use this do not cache results to ensure user preferences are accounted for.
 	 * Please rely on internal caching.
 	 */
+	@Deprecated
 	public static IPath getMsysBinDir() {
-		locateMingw();
+		IPath msysBinDir = null;
+		String msysHome = MinGW.getMSysHome();
+		if (msysHome != null) {
+			msysBinDir = new Path(msysHome).append("bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+		}
 		return msysBinDir;
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Locate MinGW directories. The results are judicially cached so it is reasonably cheap to call.
-	 * The reason to call it each time is to check if user changed environment in preferences.
-	 */
-	private static void locateMingw() {
-		IEnvironmentVariable varPath = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager().getVariable(ENV_PATH, null, true);
-		String envPathValue = varPath != null ? varPath.getValue() : null;
-		IEnvironmentVariable varMingwHome = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager().getVariable("MINGW_HOME", null, true); //$NON-NLS-1$
-		String envMingwHomeValue = varMingwHome != null ? varMingwHome.getValue() : null;
-
-		if (CDataUtil.objectsEqual(envPathValue, envPathValueCached) && CDataUtil.objectsEqual(envMingwHomeValue, envMingwHomeValueCached)) {
-			return;
-		}
-
-		envPathValueCached = envPathValue;
-		envMingwHomeValueCached = envMingwHomeValue;
-
-		binDir = locateBinDir();
-		msysBinDir = locateMsysBinDir(binDir);
-	}
-
-	private static IPath locateBinDir() {
-		// Check $MINGW_HOME
-		IPath mingwBinDir = new Path(envMingwHomeValueCached + "\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
-		if (mingwBinDir.toFile().isDirectory()) {
-			return mingwBinDir;
-		}
-
-		// Try the mingw directory in the platform install directory
-		// CDT distributions like Wascana may distribute MinGW like that
-		IPath installPath = new Path(Platform.getInstallLocation().getURL().getFile());
-		mingwBinDir = installPath.append("mingw\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
-		if (mingwBinDir.toFile().isDirectory()) {
-			return mingwBinDir;
-		}
-
-		// Check for MinGW-w64 on Windows 64 bit, see http://mingw-w64.sourceforge.net/
-		if (Platform.ARCH_X86_64.equals(Platform.getOSArch())) {
-			IPath gcc64Loc = PathUtil.findProgramLocation("x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe", envPathValueCached); //$NON-NLS-1$
-			if (gcc64Loc != null) {
-				return gcc64Loc.removeLastSegments(1);
-			}
-		}
-
-		// Look in PATH values. Look for mingw32-gcc.exe
-		// TODO: Since this dir is already in the PATH, why are we adding it here?
-		// This is really only to support isToolchainAvail. Must be a better way.
-		// AG: Because otherwise the toolchain won't be shown in the list of "supported" toolchains in UI
-		// when MinGW installed in custom location even if it is in the PATH
-		IPath gccLoc = PathUtil.findProgramLocation("mingw32-gcc.exe", envPathValueCached); //$NON-NLS-1$
-		if (gccLoc != null) {
-			return gccLoc.removeLastSegments(1);
-		}
-
-		// Try the default MinGW install dir
-		mingwBinDir = new Path("C:\\MinGW\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
-		if (mingwBinDir.toFile().isDirectory()) {
-			return mingwBinDir;
-		}
-
-		return null;
-	}
-
-	private static IPath locateMsysBinDir(IPath binPath) {
-		if (binPath != null) {
-			// Just look in the install location parent dir
-			IPath installPath = new Path(Platform.getInstallLocation().getURL().getFile());
-			IPath msysBinPath = installPath.append("msys\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
-			if (msysBinPath.toFile().isDirectory()) {
-				return msysBinPath;
-			}
-
-			if (envMingwHomeValueCached != null) {
-				msysBinPath = new Path(envMingwHomeValueCached + "\\msys\\1.0\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
-				if (msysBinPath.toFile().isDirectory()) {
-					return msysBinPath;
-				}
-			}
-
-			// Try the new MinGW msys bin dir
-			msysBinPath = new Path("C:\\MinGW\\msys\\1.0\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
-			if (msysBinPath.toFile().isDirectory()) {
-				return msysBinPath;
-			}
-		}
-		return null;
-	}
-
 	@Override
 	public IBuildEnvironmentVariable getVariable(String variableName, IConfiguration configuration, IEnvironmentVariableProvider provider) {
-		if (variableName.equals(ENV_PATH)) {
-			locateMingw();
-			if (binDir != null) {
-				String pathStr = binDir.toOSString();
-				if (msysBinDir != null) {
-					pathStr += MingwBuildEnvironmentVariable.PATH_SEPARATOR + msysBinDir.toOSString();
+		if (variableName.equals(MinGW.ENV_MINGW_HOME)) {
+			IEnvironmentVariable varMinGWHome = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager().getVariable(MinGW.ENV_MINGW_HOME, null, false);
+			if (varMinGWHome == null) {
+				// Contribute if the variable does not already come from workspace environment
+				String minGWHome = MinGW.getMinGWHome();
+				if (minGWHome == null) {
+					// If the variable is not defined still show it in the environment variables list as a hint to user
+					minGWHome = ""; //$NON-NLS-1$
 				}
-				return new MingwBuildEnvironmentVariable(ENV_PATH, pathStr, IBuildEnvironmentVariable.ENVVAR_PREPEND);
+				return new BuildEnvVar(MinGW.ENV_MINGW_HOME, new Path(minGWHome).toOSString(), IBuildEnvironmentVariable.ENVVAR_REPLACE);
 			}
+			return null;
+
+		} else if (variableName.equals(MinGW.ENV_MSYS_HOME)) {
+			IEnvironmentVariable varMsysHome = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager().getVariable(MinGW.ENV_MSYS_HOME, null, false);
+			if (varMsysHome == null) {
+				// Contribute if the variable does not already come from workspace environment
+				String msysHome = MinGW.getMSysHome();
+				if (msysHome == null) {
+					// If the variable is not defined still show it in the environment variables list as a hint to user
+					msysHome = ""; //$NON-NLS-1$
+				}
+				return new BuildEnvVar(MinGW.ENV_MSYS_HOME, new Path(msysHome).toOSString(), IBuildEnvironmentVariable.ENVVAR_REPLACE);
+			}
+			return null;
+
+		} else if (variableName.equals(ENV_PATH)) {
+			@SuppressWarnings("nls")
+			String path = "${" + MinGW.ENV_MINGW_HOME + "}" + BACKSLASH + "bin" + PATH_DELIMITER
+					+ "${" + MinGW.ENV_MSYS_HOME + "}" + BACKSLASH + "bin";
+			return new BuildEnvVar(ENV_PATH, path, IBuildEnvironmentVariable.ENVVAR_PREPEND);
 		}
 
 		return null;
@@ -197,10 +106,11 @@ public class MingwEnvironmentVariableSupplier implements IConfigurationEnvironme
 
 	@Override
 	public IBuildEnvironmentVariable[] getVariables(IConfiguration configuration, IEnvironmentVariableProvider provider) {
-		IBuildEnvironmentVariable path = getVariable(ENV_PATH, configuration, provider);
-		return path != null
-			? new IBuildEnvironmentVariable[] { path }
-			: new IBuildEnvironmentVariable[0];
+		return new IBuildEnvironmentVariable[] {
+				getVariable(MinGW.ENV_MINGW_HOME, configuration, provider),
+				getVariable(MinGW.ENV_MSYS_HOME, configuration, provider),
+				getVariable(ENV_PATH, configuration, provider),
+			};
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/gnu/mingw/MingwIsToolChainSupported.java b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/gnu/mingw/MingwIsToolChainSupported.java
index da6312958aa..52619dc0f6d 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/gnu/mingw/MingwIsToolChainSupported.java
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/gnu/mingw/MingwIsToolChainSupported.java
@@ -1,30 +1,35 @@
 /**********************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2007, 2010 QNX Software Systems and others.
+ * Copyright (c) 2007, 2013 QNX Software Systems and others.
  * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
  * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
  * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
  * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
  *
  * Contributors:
- *     QNX Software Systems - Initial API and implementation
+ *     Doug Schaefer (QNX Software Systems) - Initial API and implementation
+ *     Andrew Gvozdev                       - Ability to use different MinGW versions in different cfg
  **********************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.mingw;
 
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.envvar.IEnvironmentVariable;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.MinGW;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.IManagedIsToolChainSupported;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.IToolChain;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.internal.envvar.EnvironmentVariableManagerToolChain;
 import org.osgi.framework.Version;
 
 /**
- * @author Doug Schaefer
- *
  * @noextend This class is not intended to be subclassed by clients.
  */
 public class MingwIsToolChainSupported implements IManagedIsToolChainSupported {
+	private static final String ENV_PATH = "PATH"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+
 	@Override
 	public boolean isSupported(IToolChain toolChain, Version version, String instance) {
-		// Only supported if we can find the mingw bin dir to run the compiler
-		return MingwEnvironmentVariableSupplier.getBinDir() != null;
+		IEnvironmentVariable var = new EnvironmentVariableManagerToolChain(toolChain).getVariable(ENV_PATH, true);
+		String envPath = var != null ? var.getValue() : null;
+		return MinGW.isAvailable(envPath);
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/utils/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/MinGW.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/utils/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/MinGW.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7d02aae3607
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/utils/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/MinGW.java
@@ -0,0 +1,244 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2012, 2013 Andrew Gvozdev and others.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *     Andrew Gvozdev - Initial API and implementation
+ *******************************************************************************/
+package org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core;
+
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.WeakHashMap;
+
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.CCorePlugin;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.envvar.IEnvironmentVariable;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.settings.model.util.CDataUtil;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.utils.PathUtil;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IPath;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Path;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Platform;
+
+/**
+ * A collection of MinGW-related utility methods.
+ */
+public class MinGW {
+	public static final String ENV_MINGW_HOME = "MINGW_HOME"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+	public static final String ENV_MSYS_HOME = "MSYS_HOME"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+	private static final String ENV_PATH = "PATH"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+
+	private static final boolean isWindowsPlatform = Platform.getOS().equals(Platform.OS_WIN32);
+
+	private static String envPathValueCached = null;
+	private static String envMinGWHomeValueCached = null;
+	private static String minGWLocation = null;
+	private static boolean isMinGWLocationCached = false;
+
+	private static String envMinGWHomeValueCached_msys = null;
+	private static String mSysLocation = null;
+	private static boolean isMSysLocationCached = false;
+	
+	private final static Map<String/*envPath*/, String/*mingwLocation*/> mingwLocationCache = Collections.synchronizedMap(new WeakHashMap<String, String>(1));
+
+	/**
+	 * @return The absolute path to MinGW root folder or {@code null} if not found
+	 */
+	private static String findMinGWRoot(String envPathValue, String envMinGWHomeValue) {
+		String rootValue = null;
+
+		// Check $MINGW_HOME
+		if (envMinGWHomeValue != null && !envMinGWHomeValue.isEmpty()) {
+			IPath mingwBinDir = new Path(envMinGWHomeValue + "\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			if (mingwBinDir.toFile().isDirectory()) {
+				rootValue = mingwBinDir.removeLastSegments(1).toOSString();
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Try the mingw directory in the platform install directory
+		// CDT distributions like Wascana may distribute MinGW like that
+		if (rootValue == null) {
+			IPath installPath = new Path(Platform.getInstallLocation().getURL().getFile());
+			IPath mingwBinDir = installPath.append("mingw\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			if (mingwBinDir.toFile().isDirectory()) {
+				rootValue = mingwBinDir.removeLastSegments(1).toOSString();
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Look in PATH values. Look for mingw32-gcc.exe or x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe
+		if (rootValue == null) {
+			rootValue = findMingwInPath(envPathValue);
+		}
+
+		// Try the default MinGW install dir
+		if (rootValue == null) {
+			IPath mingwBinDir = new Path("C:\\MinGW"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			if (mingwBinDir.toFile().isDirectory()) {
+				rootValue = mingwBinDir.toOSString();
+			}
+		}
+
+		return rootValue;
+	}
+
+	private static String findMingwInPath(String envPath) {
+		if (envPath == null) {
+			// $PATH from user preferences
+			IEnvironmentVariable varPath = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager().getVariable(ENV_PATH, null, true);
+			if (varPath != null) {
+				envPath = varPath.getValue();
+			}
+		}
+
+		String mingwLocation = mingwLocationCache.get(envPath);
+		// check if WeakHashMap contains the key as null may be the cached value
+		if (mingwLocation == null && !mingwLocationCache.containsKey(envPath)) {
+			// Check for MinGW-w64 on Windows 64 bit, see http://mingw-w64.sourceforge.net/
+			if (Platform.ARCH_X86_64.equals(Platform.getOSArch())) {
+				IPath gcc64Loc = PathUtil.findProgramLocation("x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc.exe", envPath); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				if (gcc64Loc != null) {
+					mingwLocation  = gcc64Loc.removeLastSegments(2).toOSString();
+				}
+			}
+
+			// Look for mingw32-gcc.exe
+			if (mingwLocation == null) {
+				IPath gccLoc = PathUtil.findProgramLocation("mingw32-gcc.exe", envPath); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				if (gccLoc != null) {
+					mingwLocation = gccLoc.removeLastSegments(2).toOSString();
+				}
+			}
+			mingwLocationCache.put(envPath, mingwLocation);
+		}
+
+		return mingwLocation;
+	}
+
+	private static String findMSysRoot(String envMinGWHomeValue) {
+		String msysHome = null;
+	
+		// Look in the install location parent dir
+		IPath installPath = new Path(Platform.getInstallLocation().getURL().getFile());
+		IPath installMsysBin = installPath.append("msys\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+		if (installMsysBin.toFile().isDirectory()) {
+			msysHome = installMsysBin.removeLastSegments(1).toOSString();
+		}
+	
+		// Look under $MINGW_HOME
+		if (msysHome == null) {
+			if (envMinGWHomeValue != null && !envMinGWHomeValue.isEmpty()) {
+				IPath minGwMsysBin = new Path(envMinGWHomeValue + "\\msys\\1.0\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+				if (minGwMsysBin.toFile().isDirectory()) {
+					msysHome = minGwMsysBin.removeLastSegments(1).toOSString();
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	
+		// Try under default MinGW dir
+		if (msysHome == null) {
+			IPath minGwMsysBin = new Path("C:\\MinGW\\msys\\1.0\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			if (minGwMsysBin.toFile().isDirectory()) {
+				msysHome = minGwMsysBin.removeLastSegments(1).toOSString();
+			}
+		}
+	
+		// Try in default MSYS root folder
+		if (msysHome == null) {
+			IPath defaultMsysBin = new Path("C:\\msys\\1.0\\bin"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			if (defaultMsysBin.toFile().isDirectory()) {
+				msysHome = defaultMsysBin.removeLastSegments(1).toOSString();
+			}
+		}
+		return msysHome;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Find location where MinGW is installed. A number of locations is being checked,
+	 * such as environment variable $MINGW_HOME, $PATH, Windows registry et al.
+	 * <br><br>
+	 * If you use this do not cache results to ensure user preferences are accounted for.
+	 * Please rely on internal caching.
+	 * 
+	 * @return MinGW root ("/") path in Windows format.
+	 */
+	public static String getMinGWHome() {
+		if (!isWindowsPlatform) {
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		IEnvironmentVariable varPath = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager().getVariable(ENV_PATH, null, true);
+		String envPathValue = varPath != null ? varPath.getValue() : null;
+		IEnvironmentVariable varMinGWHome = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager().getVariable(ENV_MINGW_HOME, null, true);
+		String envMinGWHomeValue = varMinGWHome != null ? varMinGWHome.getValue() : null;
+
+		 // isMinGWLocationCached is used to figure fact of caching when all cached objects are null
+		if (isMinGWLocationCached && CDataUtil.objectsEqual(envPathValue, envPathValueCached) && CDataUtil.objectsEqual(envMinGWHomeValue, envMinGWHomeValueCached)) {
+			return minGWLocation;
+		}
+
+		minGWLocation = findMinGWRoot(envPathValue, envMinGWHomeValue);
+		envPathValueCached = envPathValue;
+		envMinGWHomeValueCached = envMinGWHomeValue;
+		isMinGWLocationCached = true;
+
+		return minGWLocation;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Find location where MSys is installed. Environment variable $MSYS_HOME and
+	 * some predetermined locations are being checked.
+	 * <br><br>
+	 * If you use this do not cache results to ensure user preferences are accounted for.
+	 * Please rely on internal caching.
+	 * 
+	 * @return MSys root ("/") path in Windows format.
+	 */
+	public static String getMSysHome() {
+		if (!isWindowsPlatform) {
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		// Use $MSYS_HOME if defined
+		IEnvironmentVariable varMsysHome = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager().getVariable(ENV_MSYS_HOME, null, true);
+		String msysHomeValue = varMsysHome != null ? varMsysHome.getValue() : null;
+		if (msysHomeValue != null) {
+			return msysHomeValue;
+		}
+
+		String envMinGWHomeValue = getMinGWHome();
+
+		// isMSysLocationCached is used to figure whether it was cached when all cached objects are null
+		if (isMSysLocationCached && CDataUtil.objectsEqual(envMinGWHomeValue, envMinGWHomeValueCached_msys)) {
+			return mSysLocation;
+		}
+
+		mSysLocation = findMSysRoot(envMinGWHomeValue);
+		envMinGWHomeValueCached_msys = envMinGWHomeValue;
+		isMSysLocationCached = true;
+
+		return mSysLocation;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Check if MinGW is available in the path.
+	 *
+	 * @param envPath - list of directories to search for MinGW separated
+	 *    by path separator (format of environment variable $PATH)
+	 *    or {@code null} to use current $PATH.
+	 * @return {@code true} if MinGW is available, {@code false} otherwise.
+	 */
+	public static boolean isAvailable(String envPath) {
+		return isWindowsPlatform && findMingwInPath(envPath) != null;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Check if MinGW is available in $PATH.
+	 *
+	 * @return {@code true} if MinGW is available, {@code false} otherwise.
+	 */
+	public static boolean isAvailable() {
+		return isWindowsPlatform && findMingwInPath(null) != null;
+	}
+}