diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 625b7ba062..78aae9c2a0 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -8198,6 +8198,7 @@ NINJA=${ninja:-$PWD/ninjatool} $meson setup \
         --mandir "${pre_prefix}$mandir" \
         --sysconfdir "${pre_prefix}$sysconfdir" \
         --localstatedir "${pre_prefix}$local_statedir" \
+        -Dqemu_suffix="$qemu_suffix" \
         -Doptimization=$(if test "$debug" = yes; then echo 0; else echo 2; fi) \
         -Ddebug=$(if test "$debug_info" = yes; then echo true; else echo false; fi) \
         -Dwerror=$(if test "$werror" = yes; then echo true; else echo false; fi) \
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index aef2de6523..dfdcf85063 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+option('qemu_suffix', type : 'string', value: '/qemu',
+       description: 'Suffix for QEMU data/modules/config directories (can be empty)')
 option('gettext', type : 'boolean', value : true)
 option('sdl', type : 'feature', value : 'auto')
 option('sdl_image', type : 'feature', value : 'auto')