diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 377aafa2acd5..b1e11397a827 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ vde=""
 vnc_sasl="auto"
 vnc_jpeg="auto"
 vnc_png="auto"
-xkbcommon=""
+xkbcommon="auto"
 xen=""
 xen_ctrl_version=""
 xen_pci_passthrough=""
@@ -1631,9 +1631,9 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --disable-libpmem) libpmem=no
   ;;
-  --enable-xkbcommon) xkbcommon=yes
+  --enable-xkbcommon) xkbcommon="enabled"
   ;;
-  --disable-xkbcommon) xkbcommon=no
+  --disable-xkbcommon) xkbcommon="disabled"
   ;;
   --enable-plugins) plugins="yes"
   ;;
@@ -3446,22 +3446,6 @@ EOF
     fi
 fi
 
-##########################################
-# xkbcommon probe
-if test "$xkbcommon" != "no" ; then
-  if $pkg_config xkbcommon --exists; then
-    xkbcommon_cflags=$($pkg_config xkbcommon --cflags)
-    xkbcommon_libs=$($pkg_config xkbcommon --libs)
-    xkbcommon=yes
-  else
-    if test "$xkbcommon" = "yes" ; then
-      feature_not_found "xkbcommon" "Install libxkbcommon-devel"
-    fi
-    xkbcommon=no
-  fi
-fi
-
-
 ##########################################
 # xfsctl() probe, used for file-posix.c
 if test "$xfs" != "no" ; then
@@ -6827,11 +6811,6 @@ if test "$audio_win_int" = "yes" ; then
 fi
 echo "CONFIG_BDRV_RW_WHITELIST=$block_drv_rw_whitelist" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "CONFIG_BDRV_RO_WHITELIST=$block_drv_ro_whitelist" >> $config_host_mak
-if test "$xkbcommon" = "yes" ; then
-  echo "CONFIG_XKBCOMMON=y" >> $config_host_mak
-  echo "XKBCOMMON_CFLAGS=$xkbcommon_cflags" >> $config_host_mak
-  echo "XKBCOMMON_LIBS=$xkbcommon_libs" >> $config_host_mak
-fi
 if test "$xfs" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_XFS=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
@@ -8251,7 +8230,7 @@ NINJA=$PWD/ninjatool $meson setup \
         -Db_coverage=$(if test "$gcov" = yes; then echo true; else echo false; fi) \
 	-Dsdl=$sdl -Dsdl_image=$sdl_image \
 	-Dvnc=$vnc -Dvnc_sasl=$vnc_sasl -Dvnc_jpeg=$vnc_jpeg -Dvnc_png=$vnc_png \
-	-Dgettext=$gettext \
+	-Dgettext=$gettext -Dxkbcommon=$xkbcommon \
         $cross_arg \
         "$PWD" "$source_path"
 
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index e5f45243ce78..c55f9cd94cb2 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ option('vnc', type : 'feature', value : 'enabled')
 option('vnc_jpeg', type : 'feature', value : 'auto')
 option('vnc_png', type : 'feature', value : 'auto')
 option('vnc_sasl', type : 'feature', value : 'auto')
+option('xkbcommon', type : 'feature', value : 'auto')
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index df5bf728b57a..f6e346af1a69 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -152,10 +152,10 @@ libcap_ng = not_found
 if 'CONFIG_LIBCAP_NG' in config_host
   libcap_ng = declare_dependency(link_args: config_host['LIBCAP_NG_LIBS'].split())
 endif
-xkbcommon = not_found
-if 'CONFIG_XKBCOMMON' in config_host
-  xkbcommon = declare_dependency(compile_args: config_host['XKBCOMMON_CFLAGS'].split(),
-                                 link_args: config_host['XKBCOMMON_LIBS'].split())
+xkbcommon = dependency('xkbcommon', required: get_option('xkbcommon'), static: enable_static,
+                       include_type: 'system')
+if xkbcommon.found()
+  xkbcommon = declare_dependency(dependencies: xkbcommon)
 endif
 slirp = not_found
 if config_host.has_key('CONFIG_SLIRP')
@@ -389,6 +389,7 @@ config_host_data.set('CONFIG_VNC', vnc.found())
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_VNC_JPEG', jpeg.found())
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_VNC_PNG', png.found())
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_VNC_SASL', sasl.found())
+config_host_data.set('CONFIG_XKBCOMMON', xkbcommon.found())
 config_host_data.set('QEMU_VERSION', '"@0@"'.format(meson.project_version()))
 config_host_data.set('QEMU_VERSION_MAJOR', meson.project_version().split('.')[0])
 config_host_data.set('QEMU_VERSION_MINOR', meson.project_version().split('.')[1])
@@ -1062,7 +1063,7 @@ if 'CONFIG_GUEST_AGENT' in config_host
   subdir('qga')
 endif
 
-if 'CONFIG_XKBCOMMON' in config_host
+if xkbcommon.found()
   # used for the update-keymaps target, so include rules even if !have_tools
   qemu_keymap = executable('qemu-keymap', files('qemu-keymap.c', 'ui/input-keymap.c') + genh,
                            dependencies: [qemuutil, xkbcommon], install: have_tools)
diff --git a/ui/meson.build b/ui/meson.build
index 81fd393432a4..018c5698bf66 100644
--- a/ui/meson.build
+++ b/ui/meson.build
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ keymaps = [
   ['osx', 'qcode'],
 ]
 
-if have_system or 'CONFIG_XKBCOMMON' in config_host
+if have_system or xkbcommon.found()
   foreach e : keymaps
     output = 'input-keymap-@0@-to-@1@.c.inc'.format(e[0], e[1])
     genh += custom_target(output,
