diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 34fccaa2ba..8335a3e6a0 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -465,6 +465,7 @@ fuse_lseek="auto"
 multiprocess="auto"
 
 malloc_trim="auto"
+slirp_smbd="auto"
 
 # parse CC options second
 for opt do
@@ -834,8 +835,6 @@ do
     fi
 done
 
-: ${smbd=${SMBD-/usr/sbin/smbd}}
-
 # Default objcc to clang if available, otherwise use CC
 if has clang; then
   objcc=clang
@@ -1560,6 +1559,10 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --disable-multiprocess) multiprocess="disabled"
   ;;
+  --enable-slirp-smbd) slirp_smbd=yes
+  ;;
+  --disable-slirp-smbd) slirp_smbd=no
+  ;;
   *)
       echo "ERROR: unknown option $opt"
       echo "Try '$0 --help' for more information"
@@ -1913,6 +1916,7 @@ disabled with --disable-FEATURE, default is enabled if available
   fuse            FUSE block device export
   fuse-lseek      SEEK_HOLE/SEEK_DATA support for FUSE exports
   multiprocess    Out of process device emulation support
+  slirp-smbd      use smbd (at path --smbd=*) in slirp networking
 
 NOTE: The object files are built at the place where configure is launched
 EOF
@@ -5252,6 +5256,19 @@ case "$slirp" in
     ;;
 esac
 
+# Check for slirp smbd dupport
+: ${smbd=${SMBD-/usr/sbin/smbd}}
+if test "$slirp_smbd" != "no" ; then
+  if test "$mingw32" = "yes" ; then
+    if test "$slirp_smbd" = "yes" ; then
+      error_exit "Host smbd not supported on this platform."
+    fi
+    slirp_smbd=no
+  else
+    slirp_smbd=yes
+  fi
+fi
+
 ##########################################
 # check for usable __NR_keyctl syscall
 
@@ -5527,7 +5544,10 @@ fi
 if test "$guest_agent" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_GUEST_AGENT=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
-echo "CONFIG_SMBD_COMMAND=\"$smbd\"" >> $config_host_mak
+if test "$slirp_smbd" = "yes" ; then
+  echo "CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD=y" >> $config_host_mak
+  echo "CONFIG_SMBD_COMMAND=\"$smbd\"" >> $config_host_mak
+fi
 if test "$vde" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_VDE=y" >> $config_host_mak
   echo "VDE_LIBS=$vde_libs" >> $config_host_mak
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index ba0db9fa1f..773ce512c7 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2629,6 +2629,9 @@ summary_info += {'pixman':            pixman.found()}
 summary_info += {'VTE support':       config_host.has_key('CONFIG_VTE')}
 # TODO: add back version
 summary_info += {'slirp support':     slirp_opt == 'disabled' ? false : slirp_opt}
+if slirp_opt != 'disabled' and 'CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD' in config_host
+  summary_info += {'smbd':            config_host['CONFIG_SMBD_COMMAND']}
+endif
 summary_info += {'libtasn1':          config_host.has_key('CONFIG_TASN1')}
 summary_info += {'PAM':               config_host.has_key('CONFIG_AUTH_PAM')}
 summary_info += {'iconv support':     iconv.found()}
diff --git a/net/slirp.c b/net/slirp.c
index be914c0be0..b3ded2aac1 100644
--- a/net/slirp.c
+++ b/net/slirp.c
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 #include "net/slirp.h"
 
 
-#ifndef _WIN32
+#if defined(CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD)
 #include <pwd.h>
 #include <sys/wait.h>
 #endif
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ typedef struct SlirpState {
     Slirp *slirp;
     Notifier poll_notifier;
     Notifier exit_notifier;
-#ifndef _WIN32
+#if defined(CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD)
     gchar *smb_dir;
 #endif
     GSList *fwd;
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ static QTAILQ_HEAD(, SlirpState) slirp_stacks =
 static int slirp_hostfwd(SlirpState *s, const char *redir_str, Error **errp);
 static int slirp_guestfwd(SlirpState *s, const char *config_str, Error **errp);
 
-#ifndef _WIN32
+#if defined(CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD)
 static int slirp_smb(SlirpState *s, const char *exported_dir,
                      struct in_addr vserver_addr, Error **errp);
 static void slirp_smb_cleanup(SlirpState *s);
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ static int net_slirp_init(NetClientState *peer, const char *model,
     struct in6_addr ip6_prefix;
     struct in6_addr ip6_host;
     struct in6_addr ip6_dns;
-#ifndef _WIN32
+#if defined(CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD)
     struct in_addr smbsrv = { .s_addr = 0 };
 #endif
     NetClientState *nc;
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ static int net_slirp_init(NetClientState *peer, const char *model,
         return -1;
     }
 
-#ifndef _WIN32
+#if defined(CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD)
     if (vsmbserver && !inet_aton(vsmbserver, &smbsrv)) {
         error_setg(errp, "Failed to parse SMB address");
         return -1;
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@ static int net_slirp_init(NetClientState *peer, const char *model,
             }
         }
     }
-#ifndef _WIN32
+#if defined(CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD)
     if (smb_export) {
         if (slirp_smb(s, smb_export, smbsrv, errp) < 0) {
             goto error;
@@ -784,7 +784,7 @@ void hmp_hostfwd_add(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 
 }
 
-#ifndef _WIN32
+#if defined(CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD)
 
 /* automatic user mode samba server configuration */
 static void slirp_smb_cleanup(SlirpState *s)
@@ -899,7 +899,7 @@ static int slirp_smb(SlirpState* s, const char *exported_dir,
     return 0;
 }
 
-#endif /* !defined(_WIN32) */
+#endif /* defined(CONFIG_SLIRP_SMBD) */
 
 static int guestfwd_can_read(void *opaque)
 {
