diff --git a/accel/tcg/meson.build b/accel/tcg/meson.build
index 166bef1..8ace783 100644
--- a/accel/tcg/meson.build
+++ b/accel/tcg/meson.build
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@
 ))
 tcg_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_USER_ONLY', if_true: files('user-exec.c'))
 tcg_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_SYSTEM_ONLY', if_false: files('user-exec-stub.c'))
-tcg_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_PLUGIN', if_true: [files('plugin-gen.c')])
+if get_option('plugins')
+  tcg_ss.add(files('plugin-gen.c'))
+endif
 tcg_ss.add(when: libdw, if_true: files('debuginfo.c'))
 tcg_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_LINUX', if_true: files('perf.c'))
 specific_ss.add_all(when: 'CONFIG_TCG', if_true: tcg_ss)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index a0912e4..6b1019b 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -1712,10 +1712,6 @@
     ;;
 esac
 
-if test "$plugins" = "yes" ; then
-    echo "CONFIG_PLUGIN=y" >> $config_host_mak
-fi
-
 if test -n "$gdb_bin"; then
     gdb_version=$($gdb_bin --version | head -n 1)
     if version_ge ${gdb_version##* } 9.1; then
@@ -1909,6 +1905,7 @@
   test "$cfi" != false && meson_option_add "-Dcfi=$cfi"
   test "$docs" != auto && meson_option_add "-Ddocs=$docs"
   test -n "${LIB_FUZZING_ENGINE+xxx}" && meson_option_add "-Dfuzzing_engine=$LIB_FUZZING_ENGINE"
+  test "$plugins" = yes && meson_option_add "-Dplugins=true"
   test "$qemu_suffix" != qemu && meson_option_add "-Dqemu_suffix=$qemu_suffix"
   test "$smbd" != '' && meson_option_add "-Dsmbd=$smbd"
   test "$tcg" != enabled && meson_option_add "-Dtcg=$tcg"
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 4c3918a..a1021fe 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -730,7 +730,7 @@
 if enable_modules
   gmodule = dependency('gmodule-export-2.0', version: glib_req_ver, required: true,
                        method: 'pkg-config')
-elif config_host.has_key('CONFIG_PLUGIN')
+elif get_option('plugins')
   gmodule = dependency('gmodule-no-export-2.0', version: glib_req_ver, required: true,
                        method: 'pkg-config')
 else
@@ -2115,6 +2115,7 @@
                                        dependencies: numa))
 endif
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_OPENGL', opengl.found())
+config_host_data.set('CONFIG_PLUGIN', get_option('plugins'))
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_RBD', rbd.found())
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_RDMA', rdma.found())
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_SAFESTACK', get_option('safe_stack'))
@@ -3883,7 +3884,7 @@
 
 # Other build targets
 
-if 'CONFIG_PLUGIN' in config_host
+if get_option('plugins')
   install_headers('include/qemu/qemu-plugin.h')
 endif
 
@@ -4156,7 +4157,7 @@
   else
     summary_info += {'TCG backend':   'native (@0@)'.format(cpu)}
   endif
-  summary_info += {'TCG plugins': config_host.has_key('CONFIG_PLUGIN')}
+  summary_info += {'TCG plugins':       get_option('plugins')}
   summary_info += {'TCG debug enabled': get_option('debug_tcg')}
 endif
 summary_info += {'target list':       ' '.join(target_dirs)}
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 5d6b889..e48086e 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@
        description: 'Xen PCI passthrough support')
 option('tcg', type: 'feature', value: 'enabled',
        description: 'TCG support')
+option('plugins', type: 'boolean', value: false,
+       description: 'TCG plugins via shared library loading')
 option('debug_tcg', type: 'boolean', value: false,
        description: 'TCG debugging')
 option('tcg_interpreter', type: 'boolean', value: false,
diff --git a/plugins/meson.build b/plugins/meson.build
index 752377c..71ed996 100644
--- a/plugins/meson.build
+++ b/plugins/meson.build
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@
   endif
 endif
 
-specific_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_PLUGIN', if_true: [files(
-  'loader.c',
-  'core.c',
-  'api.c',
-), declare_dependency(link_args: plugin_ldflags)])
+if get_option('plugins')
+  specific_ss.add(files(
+    'loader.c',
+    'core.c',
+    'api.c',
+  ), declare_dependency(link_args: plugin_ldflags))
+endif
diff --git a/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh b/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh
index 5567fd2..6b16ad9 100644
--- a/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh
+++ b/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
   printf "%s\n" '                           jemalloc/system/tcmalloc)'
   printf "%s\n" '  --enable-module-upgrades try to load modules from alternate paths for'
   printf "%s\n" '                           upgrades'
+  printf "%s\n" '  --enable-plugins         TCG plugins via shared library loading'
   printf "%s\n" '  --enable-rng-none        dummy RNG, avoid using /dev/(u)random and'
   printf "%s\n" '                           getrandom()'
   printf "%s\n" '  --enable-safe-stack      SafeStack Stack Smash Protection (requires'
@@ -401,6 +402,8 @@
     --enable-pipewire) printf "%s" -Dpipewire=enabled ;;
     --disable-pipewire) printf "%s" -Dpipewire=disabled ;;
     --with-pkgversion=*) quote_sh "-Dpkgversion=$2" ;;
+    --enable-plugins) printf "%s" -Dplugins=true ;;
+    --disable-plugins) printf "%s" -Dplugins=false ;;
     --enable-png) printf "%s" -Dpng=enabled ;;
     --disable-png) printf "%s" -Dpng=disabled ;;
     --enable-pvrdma) printf "%s" -Dpvrdma=enabled ;;
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.include b/tests/Makefile.include
index 985cda7..3898742 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.include
+++ b/tests/Makefile.include
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
 build-tcg: $(BUILD_TCG_TARGET_RULES)
 
 .PHONY: check-tcg
-.ninja-goals.check-tcg = all $(if $(CONFIG_PLUGIN),test-plugins)
+.ninja-goals.check-tcg = all
 check-tcg: $(RUN_TCG_TARGET_RULES)
 
 .PHONY: clean-tcg
diff --git a/tests/meson.build b/tests/meson.build
index 083f299..c2528a8 100644
--- a/tests/meson.build
+++ b/tests/meson.build
@@ -80,10 +80,8 @@
   subdir('fp')
 endif
 
-if get_option('tcg').allowed()
-  if 'CONFIG_PLUGIN' in config_host
-    subdir('plugin')
-  endif
+if get_option('plugins')
+  subdir('plugin')
 endif
 
 subdir('unit')