diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index 1ce514fb0c..09f918139a 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -15,8 +15,11 @@ skip_commits:
     - .travis.yml
     - '*.md'
 
-#cache:
-#  - C:\msys64\var\cache\pacman\pkg\mingw-w64-x86_64-qt4* -> .appveyor.yml
+cache:
+  # cache pacman packages
+  # max cache size is 1 GB, which should be enough
+  # but in case we could cache only mingw-w64-*-qt4-*
+  - C:\msys64\var\cache\pacman\pkg\ -> .appveyor.yml
 
 install:
 
@@ -32,9 +35,23 @@ install:
   - bash -lc "pacman --version"
   - bash -lc "pacman -Q"
   # Switch from SF to msys2.org (default, much faster)
-  - bash -lc "pacman --noconfirm --sync pacman-mirrors"
-  - bash -lc "pacman --noconfirm -S autoconf automake bison flex"
-  - bash -lc "pacman --noconfirm -S mingw-w64-$MARCH-qt4"
+  - bash -lc "pacman --noconfirm --needed --sync pacman-mirrors"
+  - bash -lc "pacman --noconfirm --needed -S autoconf automake bison flex"
+  #- bash -lc "pacman --noconfirm --needed -S mingw-w64-$MARCH-qt4"
+  # Qt4 was removed from MSYS2, see
+  #   https://github.com/msys2/MINGW-packages/issues/3881
+  #   and https://github.com/slowphil/texmacs-win-builder/issues/3 for the "fix"
+  #   copied below
+  # pacman no longer finds qt4 probably because of https://github.com/msys2/MINGW-packages/issues/3881
+  # nevertheless the binary still exists in the repo (for the moment)
+  # https://msys2.duckdns.org/repos
+  # https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/offline_installation_of_packages
+  #
+  # download package directly into the local pacman packages directory, cached by AppVeyor
+  # make sure pacman packages directory exists (may not be there if no packages downloaded yet)
+  - bash -lc "mkdir -p /var/cache/pacman/pkg"
+  # use "no-clobber" option for wget since the file could/should already be in the cache
+  - bash -lc "cd /var/cache/pacman/pkg && wget -nc http://repo.msys2.org/mingw/$MARCH/mingw-w64-$MARCH-qt4-4.8.7-4-any.pkg.tar.xz && pacman --noconfirm --needed -U mingw-w64-$MARCH-qt4-4.8.7-4-any.pkg.tar.xz"
 
   # Set compiler (64bit)
   - set "CC=/c/msys64/mingw%MBITS%/bin/gcc.exe"