diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 50ddfdeb20..f3a2f43250 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ bsd="no"
 linux="no"
 solaris="no"
 profiler="no"
-cocoa="no"
+cocoa="auto"
 softmmu="yes"
 linux_user="no"
 bsd_user="no"
@@ -875,7 +875,7 @@ Darwin)
     QEMU_CFLAGS="-arch x86_64 $QEMU_CFLAGS"
     QEMU_LDFLAGS="-arch x86_64 $QEMU_LDFLAGS"
   fi
-  cocoa="yes"
+  cocoa="enabled"
   audio_drv_list="coreaudio try-sdl"
   audio_possible_drivers="coreaudio sdl"
   QEMU_LDFLAGS="-framework CoreFoundation -framework IOKit $QEMU_LDFLAGS"
@@ -1246,10 +1246,10 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --enable-profiler) profiler="yes"
   ;;
-  --disable-cocoa) cocoa="no"
+  --disable-cocoa) cocoa="disabled"
   ;;
   --enable-cocoa)
-      cocoa="yes" ;
+      cocoa="enabled" ;
       audio_drv_list="coreaudio $(echo $audio_drv_list | sed s,coreaudio,,g)"
   ;;
   --disable-system) softmmu="no"
@@ -2391,8 +2391,8 @@ fi
 # cocoa implies not SDL or GTK
 # (the cocoa UI code currently assumes it is always the active UI
 # and doesn't interact well with other UI frontend code)
-if test "$cocoa" = "yes"; then
-    if test "$sdl" = "yes"; then
+if test "$cocoa" = "enabled"; then
+    if test "$sdl" = "enabled"; then
         error_exit "Cocoa and SDL UIs cannot both be enabled at once"
     fi
     if test "$gtk" = "yes"; then
@@ -6556,9 +6556,6 @@ if test "$have_x11" = "yes" && test "$need_x11" = "yes"; then
   echo "X11_CFLAGS=$x11_cflags" >> $config_host_mak
   echo "X11_LIBS=$x11_libs" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
-if test "$cocoa" = "yes" ; then
-  echo "CONFIG_COCOA=y" >> $config_host_mak
-fi
 if test "$iconv" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_ICONV=y" >> $config_host_mak
   echo "ICONV_CFLAGS=$iconv_cflags" >> $config_host_mak
@@ -7860,7 +7857,7 @@ NINJA=${ninja:-$PWD/ninjatool} $meson setup \
         -Db_pie=$(if test "$pie" = yes; then echo true; else echo false; fi) \
         -Db_coverage=$(if test "$gcov" = yes; then echo true; else echo false; fi) \
 	-Dmalloc=$malloc -Dmalloc_trim=$malloc_trim \
-	-Dmpath=$mpath -Dsdl=$sdl -Dsdl_image=$sdl_image \
+	-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\
         $cross_arg \
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 08ebfca6d0..1e7d2f9a0a 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ socket = []
 version_res = []
 coref = []
 iokit = []
-cocoa = []
+cocoa = not_found
 hvf = []
 if targetos == 'windows'
   socket = cc.find_library('ws2_32')
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ if targetos == 'windows'
 elif targetos == 'darwin'
   coref = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: 'CoreFoundation')
   iokit = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: 'IOKit')
-  cocoa = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: 'Cocoa')
+  cocoa = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: 'Cocoa', required: get_option('cocoa'))
   hvf = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: 'Hypervisor')
 elif targetos == 'sunos'
   socket = [cc.find_library('socket'),
@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ elif targetos == 'haiku'
             cc.find_library('bsd')]
 endif
 
+if not cocoa.found() and get_option('cocoa').enabled()
+  error('Cocoa not available on this platform')
+endif
+
 ################
 # Dependencies #
 ################
@@ -536,6 +540,7 @@ endif
 
 # Create config-host.h
 
+config_host_data.set('CONFIG_COCOA', cocoa.found())
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_LIBUDEV', libudev.found())
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_MPATH', mpathpersist.found())
 config_host_data.set('CONFIG_MPATH_NEW_API', mpathpersist_new_api)
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 8a59ec263d..46ea1d889a 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ option('malloc_trim', type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
 option('malloc', type : 'combo', choices : ['system', 'tcmalloc', 'jemalloc'],
        value: 'system', description: 'choose memory allocator to use')
 
+option('cocoa', type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
+       description: 'Cocoa user interface (macOS only)')
 option('mpath', type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
        description: 'Multipath persistent reservation passthrough')
 option('sdl', type : 'feature', value : 'auto',
diff --git a/ui/meson.build b/ui/meson.build
index dd6c110136..8a080c38e3 100644
--- a/ui/meson.build
+++ b/ui/meson.build
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ softmmu_ss.add(files(
 
 softmmu_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_LINUX', if_true: files('input-linux.c'))
 softmmu_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_SPICE', if_true: files('spice-core.c', 'spice-input.c', 'spice-display.c'))
-softmmu_ss.add(when: [cocoa, 'CONFIG_COCOA'], if_true: files('cocoa.m'))
+softmmu_ss.add(when: cocoa, if_true: files('cocoa.m'))
 
 vnc_ss = ss.source_set()
 vnc_ss.add(files(
