diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 9470fff09a..676239c697 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -389,6 +389,7 @@ qom_cast_debug="yes"
 trace_backends="log"
 trace_file="trace"
 spice="$default_feature"
+spice_protocol="auto"
 rbd="auto"
 smartcard="$default_feature"
 u2f="auto"
@@ -1132,7 +1133,15 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --disable-spice) spice="no"
   ;;
-  --enable-spice) spice="yes"
+  --enable-spice)
+      spice_protocol="yes"
+      spice="yes"
+  ;;
+  --disable-spice-protocol)
+      spice_protocol="no"
+      spice="no"
+  ;;
+  --enable-spice-protocol) spice_protocol="yes"
   ;;
   --disable-libiscsi) libiscsi="disabled"
   ;;
@@ -1870,6 +1879,7 @@ disabled with --disable-FEATURE, default is enabled if available
   vhost-user-blk-server    vhost-user-blk server support
   vhost-vdpa      vhost-vdpa kernel backend support
   spice           spice
+  spice-protocol  spice-protocol
   rbd             rados block device (rbd)
   libiscsi        iscsi support
   libnfs          nfs support
@@ -4153,6 +4163,19 @@ fi
 
 ##########################################
 # spice probe
+if test "$spice_protocol" != "no" ; then
+  spice_protocol_cflags=$($pkg_config --cflags spice-protocol 2>/dev/null)
+  if $pkg_config --atleast-version=0.12.3 spice-protocol; then
+    spice_protocol="yes"
+  else
+    if test "$spice_protocol" = "yes" ; then
+      feature_not_found "spice_protocol" \
+          "Install spice-protocol(>=0.12.3) devel"
+    fi
+    spice_protocol="no"
+  fi
+fi
+
 if test "$spice" != "no" ; then
   cat > $TMPC << EOF
 #include <spice.h>
@@ -4161,13 +4184,13 @@ EOF
   spice_cflags=$($pkg_config --cflags spice-protocol spice-server 2>/dev/null)
   spice_libs=$($pkg_config --libs spice-protocol spice-server 2>/dev/null)
   if $pkg_config --atleast-version=0.12.5 spice-server && \
-     $pkg_config --atleast-version=0.12.3 spice-protocol && \
+     test "$spice_protocol" = "yes" && \
      compile_prog "$spice_cflags" "$spice_libs" ; then
     spice="yes"
   else
     if test "$spice" = "yes" ; then
       feature_not_found "spice" \
-          "Install spice-server(>=0.12.5) and spice-protocol(>=0.12.3) devel"
+          "Install spice-server(>=0.12.5) devel"
     fi
     spice="no"
   fi
@@ -5836,9 +5859,14 @@ fi
 if test "$posix_memalign" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_POSIX_MEMALIGN=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
+
+if test "$spice_protocol" = "yes" ; then
+  echo "CONFIG_SPICE_PROTOCOL=y" >> $config_host_mak
+  echo "SPICE_PROTOCOL_CFLAGS=$spice_protocol_cflags" >> $config_host_mak
+fi
 if test "$spice" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_SPICE=y" >> $config_host_mak
-  echo "SPICE_CFLAGS=$spice_cflags" >> $config_host_mak
+  echo "SPICE_CFLAGS=$spice_cflags $spice_protocol_cflags" >> $config_host_mak
   echo "SPICE_LIBS=$spice_libs" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
 
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 1559e8d873..632b380738 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -458,11 +458,15 @@ if 'CONFIG_LIBJACK' in config_host
 endif
 spice = not_found
 spice_headers = not_found
+spice_protocol = 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())
   spice_headers = declare_dependency(compile_args: config_host['SPICE_CFLAGS'].split())
 endif
+if 'CONFIG_SPICE_PROTOCOL' in config_host
+  spice_protocol = declare_dependency(compile_args: config_host['SPICE_PROTOCOL_CFLAGS'].split())
+endif
 rt = cc.find_library('rt', required: false)
 libdl = not_found
 if 'CONFIG_PLUGIN' in config_host