diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 1a8268303b..a7f2c3edd8 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -405,6 +405,7 @@ EXESUF=""
 DSOSUF=".so"
 LDFLAGS_SHARED="-shared"
 modules="no"
+module_upgrades="no"
 prefix="/usr/local"
 mandir="\${prefix}/share/man"
 datadir="\${prefix}/share"
@@ -1032,6 +1033,10 @@ for opt do
   --disable-modules)
       modules="no"
   ;;
+  --disable-module-upgrades) module_upgrades="no"
+  ;;
+  --enable-module-upgrades) module_upgrades="yes"
+  ;;
   --cpu=*)
   ;;
   --target-list=*) target_list="$optarg"
@@ -1791,6 +1796,7 @@ disabled with --disable-FEATURE, default is enabled if available:
   guest-agent-msi build guest agent Windows MSI installation package
   pie             Position Independent Executables
   modules         modules support (non-Windows)
+  module-upgrades try to load modules from alternate paths for upgrades
   debug-tcg       TCG debugging (default is disabled)
   debug-info      debugging information
   sparse          sparse checker
@@ -2055,6 +2061,11 @@ if test "$modules" = "yes" && test "$mingw32" = "yes" ; then
   error_exit "Modules are not available for Windows"
 fi
 
+# module_upgrades is only reasonable if modules are enabled
+if test "$modules" = "no" && test "$module_upgrades" = "yes" ; then
+  error_exit "Can't enable module-upgrades as Modules are not enabled"
+fi
+
 # Static linking is not possible with modules or PIE
 if test "$static" = "yes" ; then
   if test "$modules" = "yes" ; then
@@ -6626,6 +6637,7 @@ if test "$slirp" != "no" ; then
     echo "smbd              $smbd"
 fi
 echo "module support    $modules"
+echo "alt path mod load $module_upgrades"
 echo "host CPU          $cpu"
 echo "host big endian   $bigendian"
 echo "target list       $target_list"
@@ -6980,6 +6992,9 @@ if test "$modules" = "yes"; then
   echo "CONFIG_STAMP=_$( (echo $qemu_version; echo $pkgversion; cat $0) | $shacmd - | cut -f1 -d\ )" >> $config_host_mak
   echo "CONFIG_MODULES=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
+if test "$module_upgrades" = "yes"; then
+  echo "CONFIG_MODULE_UPGRADES=y" >> $config_host_mak
+fi
 if test "$have_x11" = "yes" && test "$need_x11" = "yes"; then
   echo "CONFIG_X11=y" >> $config_host_mak
   echo "X11_CFLAGS=$x11_cflags" >> $config_host_mak
diff --git a/util/module.c b/util/module.c
index 236a7bb52a..5f7896870a 100644
--- a/util/module.c
+++ b/util/module.c
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@
 #endif
 #include "qemu/queue.h"
 #include "qemu/module.h"
+#ifdef CONFIG_MODULE_UPGRADES
+#include "qemu-version.h"
+#endif
 
 typedef struct ModuleEntry
 {
@@ -170,6 +173,9 @@ bool module_load_one(const char *prefix, const char *lib_name)
 #ifdef CONFIG_MODULES
     char *fname = NULL;
     char *exec_dir;
+#ifdef CONFIG_MODULE_UPGRADES
+    char *version_dir;
+#endif
     const char *search_dir;
     char *dirs[4];
     char *module_name;
@@ -201,6 +207,14 @@ bool module_load_one(const char *prefix, const char *lib_name)
     dirs[n_dirs++] = g_strdup_printf("%s", CONFIG_QEMU_MODDIR);
     dirs[n_dirs++] = g_strdup_printf("%s/..", exec_dir ? : "");
     dirs[n_dirs++] = g_strdup_printf("%s", exec_dir ? : "");
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_MODULE_UPGRADES
+    version_dir = g_strcanon(g_strdup(QEMU_PKGVERSION),
+                             G_CSET_A_2_Z G_CSET_a_2_z G_CSET_DIGITS "+-.~",
+                             '_');
+    dirs[n_dirs++] = g_strdup_printf("/var/run/qemu/%s", version_dir);
+#endif
+
     assert(n_dirs <= ARRAY_SIZE(dirs));
 
     g_free(exec_dir);