diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 4f0f9c99d3..6c13964b24 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -4402,12 +4402,6 @@ if compile_prog "" "" ; then
   syncfs=yes
 fi
 
-# check for kcov support (kernel must be 4.4+, compiled with certain options)
-kcov=no
-if check_include sys/kcov.h ; then
-    kcov=yes
-fi
-
 # check for btrfs filesystem support (kernel must be 3.9+)
 btrfs=no
 if check_include linux/btrfs.h ; then
@@ -6112,9 +6106,6 @@ fi
 if test "$syncfs" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_SYNCFS=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
-if test "$kcov" = "yes" ; then
-  echo "CONFIG_KCOV=y" >> $config_host_mak
-fi
 if test "$btrfs" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_BTRFS=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
diff --git a/linux-user/ioctls.h b/linux-user/ioctls.h
index 585874f090..8efb4d38c0 100644
--- a/linux-user/ioctls.h
+++ b/linux-user/ioctls.h
@@ -715,7 +715,7 @@
   IOCTL_IGNORE(TIOCSTOP)
 #endif
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_KCOV
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_KCOV_H
   IOCTL(KCOV_ENABLE, 0, TYPE_NULL)
   IOCTL(KCOV_DISABLE, 0, TYPE_NULL)
   IOCTL(KCOV_INIT_TRACE, IOC_R, TYPE_ULONG)
diff --git a/linux-user/syscall.c b/linux-user/syscall.c
index 27adee908e..063130be04 100644
--- a/linux-user/syscall.c
+++ b/linux-user/syscall.c
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
 #ifdef CONFIG_SENDFILE
 #include <sys/sendfile.h>
 #endif
-#ifdef CONFIG_KCOV
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_KCOV_H
 #include <sys/kcov.h>
 #endif
 
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index a790cc527c..04cdea75dd 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -839,6 +839,7 @@ config_host_data.set('QEMU_VERSION_MICRO', meson.project_version().split('.')[2]
 config_host_data.set('HAVE_DRM_H', cc.has_header('libdrm/drm.h'))
 config_host_data.set('HAVE_PTY_H', cc.has_header('pty.h'))
 config_host_data.set('HAVE_SYS_IOCCOM_H', cc.has_header('sys/ioccom.h'))
+config_host_data.set('HAVE_SYS_KCOV_H', cc.has_header('sys/kcov.h'))
 config_host_data.set('HAVE_SYS_SIGNAL_H', cc.has_header('sys/signal.h'))
 
 ignored = ['CONFIG_QEMU_INTERP_PREFIX'] # actually per-target