diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3c99a0c78..a915b6e7e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ bin/
 .idea
 .mypy_cache
 .vscode
+.dlls
 
 # icons
 electrum/gui/kivy/theming/light-0.png
diff --git a/run_electrum b/run_electrum
index d68a368cf..608aa9367 100755
--- a/run_electrum
+++ b/run_electrum
@@ -51,6 +51,13 @@ os.environ['KIVY_DATA_DIR'] = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)) + '/ele
 if is_local or is_android:
     sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(script_dir, 'packages'))
 
+# when running from source, on Windows, also search for DLLs in '.dlls' top-level folder
+if is_local and os.name == 'nt':
+    dll_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '.dlls')
+    if os.path.exists(dll_dir):
+        if hasattr(os, 'add_dll_directory'):  # requires python 3.8+
+            os.add_dll_directory(dll_dir)
+
 
 def check_imports():
     # pure-python dependencies need to be imported here for pyinstaller