diff --git a/model_server/conf/testing.py b/model_server/conf/testing.py
index 12d93c8b884dfad672a5e7adf0f5cbe05c60eeba..dd60e586b12407876645381d7867661fa111efd9 100644
--- a/model_server/conf/testing.py
+++ b/model_server/conf/testing.py
@@ -77,9 +77,21 @@ def setup_test_data():
     :return:
         meta (dict) of test data and paths
     """
+
+    def _winpath(f):
+        if not isinstance(f, str):
+            return f
+        p = f.split('/')
+        if len(p) > 1:
+            p[1] = p[1] + ':'
+            return '\\'.join(p[1:])
+        else:
+            return f
+
     # places to look for test data
     data_paths = [
         os.environ.get('UNITTEST_DATA_ROOT'),
+        _winpath(os.environ.get('UNITTEST_DATA_ROOT')),
         Path.home() / 'model_server' / 'testing',
         os.getcwd(),
     ]
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d00d683d3e31b3bf58975c2cd9342c4a0c8ab298..882ad79c5a6e8bf5d99116212482db65478df8a3 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 [project]
 name = "model_server"
 license = {file = "LICENSE"}
-version = "2024.09.30"
+version = "2024.10.01"
 authors = [
   { name="Christopher Rhodes", email="christopher.rhodes@embl.de" },
 ]