diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 55e07c82dd..83610b0db8 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -302,6 +302,7 @@ fdt="auto"
 netmap="no"
 sdl="auto"
 sdl_image="auto"
+virtiofsd="auto"
 virtfs=""
 libudev="auto"
 mpath="auto"
@@ -999,6 +1000,10 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --enable-libudev) libudev="enabled"
   ;;
+  --disable-virtiofsd) virtiofsd="disabled"
+  ;;
+  --enable-virtiofsd) virtiofsd="enabled"
+  ;;
   --disable-mpath) mpath="disabled"
   ;;
   --enable-mpath) mpath="enabled"
@@ -1758,6 +1763,7 @@ disabled with --disable-FEATURE, default is enabled if available:
   vnc-png         PNG compression for VNC server
   cocoa           Cocoa UI (Mac OS X only)
   virtfs          VirtFS
+  virtiofsd       build virtiofs daemon (virtiofsd)
   libudev         Use libudev to enumerate host devices
   mpath           Multipath persistent reservation passthrough
   xen             xen backend driver support
@@ -6972,7 +6978,7 @@ NINJA=$ninja $meson setup \
         -Dxen=$xen -Dxen_pci_passthrough=$xen_pci_passthrough -Dtcg=$tcg \
         -Dcocoa=$cocoa -Dmpath=$mpath -Dsdl=$sdl -Dsdl_image=$sdl_image \
         -Dvnc=$vnc -Dvnc_sasl=$vnc_sasl -Dvnc_jpeg=$vnc_jpeg -Dvnc_png=$vnc_png \
-        -Dgettext=$gettext -Dxkbcommon=$xkbcommon -Du2f=$u2f \
+        -Dgettext=$gettext -Dxkbcommon=$xkbcommon -Du2f=$u2f -Dvirtiofsd=$virtiofsd \
         -Dcapstone=$capstone -Dslirp=$slirp -Dfdt=$fdt \
         -Diconv=$iconv -Dcurses=$curses -Dlibudev=$libudev\
         -Ddocs=$docs -Dsphinx_build=$sphinx_build -Dinstall_blobs=$blobs \
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 835424999d..47e32e1fcb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2045,6 +2045,7 @@ summary_info += {'Audio drivers':     config_host['CONFIG_AUDIO_DRIVERS']}
 summary_info += {'Block whitelist (rw)': config_host['CONFIG_BDRV_RW_WHITELIST']}
 summary_info += {'Block whitelist (ro)': config_host['CONFIG_BDRV_RO_WHITELIST']}
 summary_info += {'VirtFS support':    config_host.has_key('CONFIG_VIRTFS')}
+summary_info += {'build virtiofs daemon': have_virtiofsd}
 summary_info += {'Multipath support': mpathpersist.found()}
 summary_info += {'VNC support':       vnc.found()}
 if vnc.found()
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 48ab4ce7d0..b4f1801875 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ option('vnc_sasl', type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
        description: 'SASL authentication for VNC server')
 option('xkbcommon', type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
        description: 'xkbcommon support')
+option('virtiofsd', type: 'feature', value: 'auto',
+       description: 'build virtiofs daemon (virtiofsd)')
 
 option('capstone', type: 'combo', value: 'auto',
        choices: ['disabled', 'enabled', 'auto', 'system', 'internal'],
diff --git a/tools/meson.build b/tools/meson.build
index 513bd2ff4f..76bf84df52 100644
--- a/tools/meson.build
+++ b/tools/meson.build
@@ -1,10 +1,23 @@
-have_virtiofsd = (have_system and
+have_virtiofsd = (targetos == 'linux' and
     have_tools and
-    'CONFIG_LINUX' in config_host and 
     'CONFIG_SECCOMP' in config_host and
     'CONFIG_LIBCAP_NG' in config_host and
     'CONFIG_VHOST_USER' in config_host)
 
+if get_option('virtiofsd').enabled()
+  if not have_virtiofsd
+    if targetos != 'linux'
+      error('virtiofsd requires Linux')
+    elif 'CONFIG_SECCOMP' not in config_host or 'CONFIG_LIBCAP_NG' not in config_host
+      error('virtiofsd requires libcap-ng-devel and seccomp-devel')
+    elif not have_tools or 'CONFIG_VHOST_USER' not in config_host
+      error('virtiofsd needs tools and vhost-user support')
+    endif
+  endif
+elif get_option('virtiofsd').disabled() or not have_system
+  have_virtiofsd = false
+endif
+
 if have_virtiofsd
   subdir('virtiofsd')
 endif