diff --git a/configure b/configure
index d70448f495..17aa595343 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -772,7 +772,6 @@ Darwin)
     QEMU_CFLAGS="-arch x86_64 $QEMU_CFLAGS"
     QEMU_LDFLAGS="-arch x86_64 $QEMU_LDFLAGS"
   fi
-  cocoa="enabled"
   audio_drv_list="coreaudio try-sdl"
   audio_possible_drivers="coreaudio sdl"
   QEMU_LDFLAGS="-framework CoreFoundation -framework IOKit $QEMU_LDFLAGS"
@@ -2322,20 +2321,6 @@ if test -z "$want_tools"; then
 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 "$cocoa" = "enabled"; then
-    if test "$sdl" = "enabled"; then
-        error_exit "Cocoa and SDL UIs cannot both be enabled at once"
-    fi
-    if test "$gtk" = "enabled"; then
-        error_exit "Cocoa and GTK UIs cannot both be enabled at once"
-    fi
-    gtk=disabled
-    sdl=disabled
-fi
-
 # Some versions of Mac OS X incorrectly define SIZE_MAX
 cat > $TMPC << EOF
 #include <stdint.h>
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 73d3cc5385..1f12c43765 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -169,7 +169,6 @@ version_res = []
 coref = []
 iokit = []
 emulator_link_args = []
-cocoa = not_found
 hvf = not_found
 if targetos == 'windows'
   socket = cc.find_library('ws2_32')
@@ -182,7 +181,6 @@ if targetos == 'windows'
 elif targetos == 'darwin'
   coref = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: 'CoreFoundation')
   iokit = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: 'IOKit')
-  cocoa = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: 'Cocoa', required: get_option('cocoa'))
 elif targetos == 'sunos'
   socket = [cc.find_library('socket'),
             cc.find_library('nsl'),
@@ -256,9 +254,6 @@ if not have_xen_pci_passthrough and get_option('xen_pci_passthrough').enabled()
     error('Xen PCI passthrough requested but Xen not enabled')
   endif
 endif
-if not cocoa.found() and get_option('cocoa').enabled()
-  error('Cocoa not available on this platform')
-endif
 
 ################
 # Dependencies #
@@ -362,6 +357,14 @@ if not get_option('attr').disabled()
   endif
 endif
 
+cocoa = dependency('appleframeworks', modules: 'Cocoa', required: get_option('cocoa'))
+if cocoa.found() and get_option('sdl').enabled()
+  error('Cocoa and SDL cannot be enabled at the same time')
+endif
+if cocoa.found() and get_option('gtk').enabled()
+  error('Cocoa and GTK+ cannot be enabled at the same time')
+endif
+
 seccomp = not_found
 if not get_option('seccomp').auto() or have_system or have_tools
   seccomp = dependency('libseccomp', version: '>=2.3.0',
@@ -647,7 +650,7 @@ if not get_option('brlapi').auto() or have_system
 endif
 
 sdl = not_found
-if have_system
+if not get_option('sdl').auto() or (have_system and not cocoa.found())
   sdl = dependency('sdl2', required: get_option('sdl'), static: enable_static)
   sdl_image = not_found
 endif
@@ -779,7 +782,7 @@ endif
 
 gtk = not_found
 gtkx11 = not_found
-if not get_option('gtk').auto() or have_system
+if not get_option('gtk').auto() or (have_system and not cocoa.found())
   gtk = dependency('gtk+-3.0', version: '>=3.22.0',
                    method: 'pkg-config',
                    required: get_option('gtk'),