diff --git a/python/lammps.py b/python/lammps.py
index 6f9cf5031d..e3c8f7f61c 100644
--- a/python/lammps.py
+++ b/python/lammps.py
@@ -169,6 +169,8 @@ class lammps(object):
     # determine module file location
 
     modpath = dirname(abspath(getsourcefile(lambda:0)))
+    # for windows installers the shared library is in a different folder
+    winpath = abspath(os.path.join(modpath,'..','bin'))
     self.lib = None
     self.lmp = None
 
@@ -197,6 +199,10 @@ class lammps(object):
     elif any([f.startswith('liblammps') and f.endswith('.dll')
               for f in os.listdir(modpath)]):
       lib_ext = ".dll"
+    elif any([f.startswith('liblammps') and f.endswith('.dll')
+              for f in os.listdir(winpath)]):
+      lib_ext = ".dll"
+      modpath = winpath
     else:
       lib_ext = ".so"