diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 401c623a65..fe9415ac64 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ x := $(shell rm -rf meson-private meson-info meson-logs)
 endif
 
 # 1. ensure config-host.mak is up-to-date
-config-host.mak: $(SRC_PATH)/configure $(SRC_PATH)/pc-bios $(SRC_PATH)/VERSION
+config-host.mak: $(SRC_PATH)/configure $(SRC_PATH)/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh $(SRC_PATH)/pc-bios $(SRC_PATH)/VERSION
 	@echo config-host.mak is out-of-date, running configure
 	@if test -f meson-private/coredata.dat; then \
 	  ./config.status --skip-meson; \
@@ -124,6 +124,12 @@ ifneq ($(MESON),)
 Makefile.mtest: build.ninja scripts/mtest2make.py
 	$(MESON) introspect --targets --tests --benchmarks | $(PYTHON) scripts/mtest2make.py > $@
 -include Makefile.mtest
+
+.PHONY: update-buildoptions
+all update-buildoptions: $(SRC_PATH)/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh
+$(SRC_PATH)/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh: $(SRC_PATH)/meson_options.txt
+	$(MESON) introspect --buildoptions $(SRC_PATH)/meson.build | $(PYTHON) \
+	  scripts/meson-buildoptions.py > $@.tmp && mv $@.tmp $@
 endif
 
 # 4. Rules to bridge to other makefiles
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 2ec410378e..8eb0ef160f 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -789,6 +789,18 @@ fi
 
 werror=""
 
+. $source_path/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh
+
+meson_options=
+meson_option_parse() {
+  meson_options="$meson_options $(_meson_option_parse "$@")"
+  if test $? -eq 1; then
+    echo "ERROR: unknown option $1"
+    echo "Try '$0 --help' for more information"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
 for opt do
   optarg=$(expr "x$opt" : 'x[^=]*=\(.*\)')
   case "$opt" in
@@ -1548,6 +1560,8 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --disable-slirp-smbd) slirp_smbd=no
   ;;
+  --enable-* | --disable-*) meson_option_parse "$opt" "$optarg"
+  ;;
   *)
       echo "ERROR: unknown option $opt"
       echo "Try '$0 --help' for more information"
@@ -1804,11 +1818,9 @@ Advanced options (experts only):
                            enable plugins via shared library loading
   --disable-containers     don't use containers for cross-building
   --gdb=GDB-path           gdb to use for gdbstub tests [$gdb_bin]
-
-Optional features, enabled with --enable-FEATURE and
-disabled with --disable-FEATURE, default is enabled if available
-(unless built with --without-default-features):
-
+EOF
+  meson_options_help
+cat << EOF
   system          all system emulation targets
   user            supported user emulation targets
   linux-user      all linux usermode emulation targets
@@ -4489,7 +4501,8 @@ if test "$skip_meson" = no; then
   mv $cross config-meson.cross
 
   rm -rf meson-private meson-info meson-logs
-  NINJA=$ninja $meson setup \
+  run_meson() {
+    NINJA=$ninja $meson setup \
         --prefix "$prefix" \
         --libdir "$libdir" \
         --libexecdir "$libexecdir" \
@@ -4534,9 +4547,9 @@ if test "$skip_meson" = no; then
         -Dpa=$pa -Daudio_drv_list=$audio_drv_list -Dtcg_interpreter=$tcg_interpreter \
         -Dtrace_backends=$trace_backends -Dtrace_file=$trace_file -Dlinux_aio=$linux_aio \
         -Dnetmap=$netmap -Dvde=$vde \
-        $cross_arg \
-        "$PWD" "$source_path"
-
+        "$@" $cross_arg "$PWD" "$source_path"
+  }
+  eval run_meson $meson_options
   if test "$?" -ne 0 ; then
       error_exit "meson setup failed"
   fi
diff --git a/scripts/meson-buildoptions.py b/scripts/meson-buildoptions.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..71ee56bd22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/meson-buildoptions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env python3
+
+# Generate configure command line options handling code, based on Meson's
+# user build options introspection data
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2021 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# Author: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
+# any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+import json
+import textwrap
+import shlex
+import sys
+
+def sh_print(line=""):
+    print('  printf "%s\\n"', shlex.quote(line))
+
+
+def load_options(json):
+    json = [
+        x
+        for x in json
+        if x["section"] == "user"
+        and ":" not in x["name"]
+        and x["name"] not in SKIP_OPTIONS
+    ]
+    return sorted(json, key=lambda x: x["name"])
+
+
+def print_help(options):
+    print("meson_options_help() {")
+    sh_print()
+    sh_print("Optional features, enabled with --enable-FEATURE and")
+    sh_print("disabled with --disable-FEATURE, default is enabled if available")
+    sh_print("(unless built with --without-default-features):")
+    sh_print()
+    print("}")
+
+
+def print_parse(options):
+    print("_meson_option_parse() {")
+    print("  case $1 in")
+    print("    *) return 1 ;;")
+    print("  esac")
+    print("}")
+
+
+options = load_options(json.load(sys.stdin))
+print("# This file is generated by meson-buildoptions.py, do not edit!")
+print_help(options)
+print_parse(options)
diff --git a/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh b/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c8ae205601
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/meson-buildoptions.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# This file is generated by meson-buildoptions.py, do not edit!
+meson_options_help() {
+  printf "%s\n" ''
+  printf "%s\n" 'Optional features, enabled with --enable-FEATURE and'
+  printf "%s\n" 'disabled with --disable-FEATURE, default is enabled if available'
+  printf "%s\n" '(unless built with --without-default-features):'
+  printf "%s\n" ''
+}
+_meson_option_parse() {
+  case $1 in
+    *) return 1 ;;
+  esac
+}