diff --git a/bitmaps_png/CMakeLists.txt b/bitmaps_png/CMakeLists.txt
index 741898295d..6bfbf4ca38 100644
--- a/bitmaps_png/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/bitmaps_png/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -728,6 +728,13 @@ endfunction()
 
 include( FindUnixCommands )
 
+# CMake on Windows CI seems to struggle to find tar even though it's in PATH
+# Let's help it out as modern windows (Server 2019 and 10 provide tar)
+if( MSVC AND TAR STREQUAL "TAR-NOTFOUND" )
+   # yolo
+    set( TAR "C:\\Windows\\System32\\tar.exe" )
+endif()
+
 set( BITMAP_ARCHIVE_PATH ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/resources/images.tar.gz )
 
 if( NOT ALL_PNGS )