diff --git a/Makefile.objs b/Makefile.objs
index eeaa0cfa82..e43526fe5f 100644
--- a/Makefile.objs
+++ b/Makefile.objs
@@ -87,8 +87,6 @@ common-obj-y += dma-helpers.o
 common-obj-$(CONFIG_TPM) += tpm.o
 
 common-obj-y += backends/
-common-obj-y += chardev/
-common-obj-m += chardev/
 
 common-obj-$(CONFIG_SECCOMP) += qemu-seccomp.o
 qemu-seccomp.o-cflags := $(SECCOMP_CFLAGS)
diff --git a/Makefile.target b/Makefile.target
index c0575da132..c8c4b70162 100644
--- a/Makefile.target
+++ b/Makefile.target
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ all: $(PROGS) stap
 	@true
 
 obj-y += $(LIBQEMU)
+
 obj-y += trace/
 
 #########################################################
@@ -167,6 +168,7 @@ LIBS := $(LIBS) @../block.syms @../qemu.syms
 ifneq ($(CONFIG_MODULES),y)
 LIBS := $(LIBS)
 endif
+LIBS := $(LIBS) $(BRLAPI_LIBS) $(SDL_LIBS) $(SPICE_LIBS)
 
 # Hardware support
 ifeq ($(TARGET_NAME), sparc64)
diff --git a/chardev/Makefile.objs b/chardev/Makefile.objs
deleted file mode 100644
index 6662d0df41..0000000000
--- a/chardev/Makefile.objs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-chardev-obj-$(CONFIG_SOFTMMU) += chardev-sysemu.o
-common-obj-$(CONFIG_SOFTMMU) += msmouse.o wctablet.o testdev.o
-
-ifeq ($(CONFIG_BRLAPI),y)
-common-obj-m += baum.o
-baum.o-cflags := $(SDL_CFLAGS)
-baum.o-libs := $(BRLAPI_LIBS)
-endif
-
-common-obj-$(CONFIG_SPICE) += spice.o
diff --git a/chardev/meson.build b/chardev/meson.build
index 9d99025a14..02f914d6c0 100644
--- a/chardev/meson.build
+++ b/chardev/meson.build
@@ -30,3 +30,16 @@ libchardev = static_library('chardev', chardev_ss.sources() + genh,
                             build_by_default: false)
 
 chardev = declare_dependency(link_whole: libchardev)
+
+softmmu_ss.add(files('chardev-sysemu.c', 'msmouse.c', 'wctablet.c', 'testdev.c'))
+softmmu_ss.add(when: ['CONFIG_SPICE', spice], if_true: files('spice.c'))
+
+chardev_modules = {}
+
+if config_host.has_key('CONFIG_BRLAPI') and config_host.has_key('CONFIG_SDL')
+  module_ss = ss.source_set()
+  module_ss.add(when: [sdl, brlapi], if_true: files('baum.c'))
+  chardev_modules += { 'brlapi': module_ss }
+endif
+
+modules += { 'chardev': chardev_modules }
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index a8f7c912da..68cf306ce8 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -7393,6 +7393,8 @@ if test "$zlib" != "no" ; then
 fi
 if test "$spice" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_SPICE=y" >> $config_host_mak
+  echo "SPICE_CFLAGS=$spice_cflags" >> $config_host_mak
+  echo "SPICE_LIBS=$spice_libs" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
 
 if test "$smartcard" = "yes" ; then
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 3a8cf11edc..d3b74868e2 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@ if 'CONFIG_XKBCOMMON' in config_host
   xkbcommon = declare_dependency(compile_args: config_host['XKBCOMMON_CFLAGS'].split(),
                                  link_args: config_host['XKBCOMMON_LIBS'].split())
 endif
+spice = not_found
+if 'CONFIG_SPICE' in config_host
+  spice = declare_dependency(compile_args: config_host['SPICE_CFLAGS'].split(),
+                             link_args: config_host['SPICE_LIBS'].split())
+endif
 rt = cc.find_library('rt', required: false)
 libmpathpersist = not_found
 if config_host.has_key('CONFIG_MPATH')
@@ -181,6 +186,15 @@ libudev = not_found
 if 'CONFIG_LIBUDEV' in config_host
   libudev = declare_dependency(link_args: config_host['LIBUDEV_LIBS'].split())
 endif
+brlapi = not_found
+if 'CONFIG_BRLAPI' in config_host
+  brlapi = declare_dependency(link_args: config_host['BRLAPI_LIBS'].split())
+endif
+sdl = not_found
+if 'CONFIG_SDL' in config_host
+  sdl = declare_dependency(compile_args: config_host['SDL_CFLAGS'].split(),
+                           link_args: config_host['SDL_LIBS'].split())
+endif
 rbd = not_found
 if 'CONFIG_RBD' in config_host
   rbd = declare_dependency(link_args: config_host['RBD_LIBS'].split())