diff --git a/block/export/vhost-user-blk-server.c b/block/export/vhost-user-blk-server.c
index 62672d1cb9..a3d95ca012 100644
--- a/block/export/vhost-user-blk-server.c
+++ b/block/export/vhost-user-blk-server.c
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
  */
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include "block/block.h"
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h"
+#include "subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h" /* only for the type definitions */
 #include "standard-headers/linux/virtio_blk.h"
 #include "qemu/vhost-user-server.h"
 #include "vhost-user-blk-server.h"
diff --git a/contrib/libvhost-user/meson.build b/contrib/libvhost-user/meson.build
deleted file mode 100644
index a261e7665f..0000000000
--- a/contrib/libvhost-user/meson.build
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-libvhost_user = static_library('vhost-user',
-                               files('libvhost-user.c', 'libvhost-user-glib.c'),
-                               build_by_default: false)
-vhost_user = declare_dependency(link_with: libvhost_user)
diff --git a/contrib/vhost-user-blk/meson.build b/contrib/vhost-user-blk/meson.build
index 5db8cc3fe2..601ea15ef5 100644
--- a/contrib/vhost-user-blk/meson.build
+++ b/contrib/vhost-user-blk/meson.build
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # FIXME: broken on 32-bit architectures
 executable('vhost-user-blk', files('vhost-user-blk.c'),
-           link_with: libvhost_user,
-           dependencies: qemuutil,
+           dependencies: [qemuutil, vhost_user],
            build_by_default: false,
            install: false)
diff --git a/contrib/vhost-user-blk/vhost-user-blk.c b/contrib/vhost-user-blk/vhost-user-blk.c
index dc981bf945..6abd7835a8 100644
--- a/contrib/vhost-user-blk/vhost-user-blk.c
+++ b/contrib/vhost-user-blk/vhost-user-blk.c
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@
 
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include "standard-headers/linux/virtio_blk.h"
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.h"
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h"
+#include "libvhost-user-glib.h"
 
 #if defined(__linux__)
 #include <linux/fs.h>
diff --git a/contrib/vhost-user-gpu/meson.build b/contrib/vhost-user-gpu/meson.build
index c487ca72c1..2fc2320b52 100644
--- a/contrib/vhost-user-gpu/meson.build
+++ b/contrib/vhost-user-gpu/meson.build
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@ if 'CONFIG_TOOLS' in config_host and 'CONFIG_VIRGL' in config_host \
     and 'CONFIG_GBM' in config_host and 'CONFIG_LINUX' in config_host \
     and pixman.found()
   executable('vhost-user-gpu', files('vhost-user-gpu.c', 'virgl.c', 'vugbm.c'),
-             link_with: libvhost_user,
-             dependencies: [qemuutil, pixman, gbm, virgl],
+             dependencies: [qemuutil, pixman, gbm, virgl, vhost_user],
              install: true,
              install_dir: get_option('libexecdir'))
 
diff --git a/contrib/vhost-user-gpu/vugpu.h b/contrib/vhost-user-gpu/vugpu.h
index 3153c9a6de..bdf9a74b46 100644
--- a/contrib/vhost-user-gpu/vugpu.h
+++ b/contrib/vhost-user-gpu/vugpu.h
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.h"
+#include "libvhost-user-glib.h"
 #include "standard-headers/linux/virtio_gpu.h"
 
 #include "qemu/queue.h"
diff --git a/contrib/vhost-user-input/main.c b/contrib/vhost-user-input/main.c
index 6020c6f33a..3ea840cf44 100644
--- a/contrib/vhost-user-input/main.c
+++ b/contrib/vhost-user-input/main.c
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@
 #include "qemu/iov.h"
 #include "qemu/bswap.h"
 #include "qemu/sockets.h"
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h"
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.h"
+#include "libvhost-user-glib.h"
 #include "standard-headers/linux/virtio_input.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 
diff --git a/contrib/vhost-user-input/meson.build b/contrib/vhost-user-input/meson.build
index 1eeb1329d9..21a9ed4f15 100644
--- a/contrib/vhost-user-input/meson.build
+++ b/contrib/vhost-user-input/meson.build
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 executable('vhost-user-input', files('main.c'),
-           link_with: libvhost_user,
-           dependencies: qemuutil,
+           dependencies: [qemuutil, vhost_user],
            build_by_default: targetos == 'linux',
            install: false)
diff --git a/contrib/vhost-user-scsi/meson.build b/contrib/vhost-user-scsi/meson.build
index 257cbffc8e..044c50bf43 100644
--- a/contrib/vhost-user-scsi/meson.build
+++ b/contrib/vhost-user-scsi/meson.build
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 if 'CONFIG_LIBISCSI' in config_host
   executable('vhost-user-scsi', files('vhost-user-scsi.c'),
-             link_with: libvhost_user,
-             dependencies: [qemuutil, libiscsi],
+             dependencies: [qemuutil, libiscsi, vhost_user],
              build_by_default: targetos == 'linux',
              install: false)
 endif
diff --git a/contrib/vhost-user-scsi/vhost-user-scsi.c b/contrib/vhost-user-scsi/vhost-user-scsi.c
index 4639440a70..4f6e3e2a24 100644
--- a/contrib/vhost-user-scsi/vhost-user-scsi.c
+++ b/contrib/vhost-user-scsi/vhost-user-scsi.c
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 #define inline __attribute__((gnu_inline))  /* required for libiscsi v1.9.0 */
 #include <iscsi/scsi-lowlevel.h>
 #undef inline
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.h"
+#include "libvhost-user-glib.h"
 #include "standard-headers/linux/virtio_scsi.h"
 
 
diff --git a/include/qemu/vhost-user-server.h b/include/qemu/vhost-user-server.h
index 0da4c2cc4c..121ea1dedf 100644
--- a/include/qemu/vhost-user-server.h
+++ b/include/qemu/vhost-user-server.h
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #ifndef VHOST_USER_SERVER_H
 #define VHOST_USER_SERVER_H
 
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h"
+#include "subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h" /* only for the type definitions */
 #include "io/channel-socket.h"
 #include "io/channel-file.h"
 #include "io/net-listener.h"
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index e3386196ba..732b29a1f3 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1475,7 +1475,12 @@ trace_events_subdirs += [
   'util',
 ]
 
-subdir('contrib/libvhost-user')
+vhost_user = not_found
+if 'CONFIG_VHOST_USER' in config_host
+  libvhost_user = subproject('libvhost-user')
+  vhost_user = libvhost_user.get_variable('vhost_user_dep')
+endif
+
 subdir('qapi')
 subdir('qobject')
 subdir('stubs')
diff --git a/contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.c b/subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.c
similarity index 100%
rename from contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.c
rename to subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.c
diff --git a/contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.h b/subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.h
similarity index 100%
rename from contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.h
rename to subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user-glib.h
diff --git a/contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.c b/subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.c
similarity index 100%
rename from contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.c
rename to subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.c
diff --git a/contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h b/subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h
similarity index 100%
rename from contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h
rename to subprojects/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h
diff --git a/subprojects/libvhost-user/meson.build b/subprojects/libvhost-user/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f9ecc534cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/subprojects/libvhost-user/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+project('libvhost-user', 'c',
+        license: 'GPL-2.0-or-later',
+        default_options: ['c_std=gnu99'])
+
+glib = dependency('glib-2.0')
+inc = include_directories('../../include', '../../linux-headers')
+
+vhost_user = static_library('vhost-user',
+                            files('libvhost-user.c'),
+                            include_directories: inc,
+                            c_args: '-D_GNU_SOURCE')
+
+vhost_user_glib = static_library('vhost-user-glib',
+                                 files('libvhost-user-glib.c'),
+                                 include_directories: inc,
+                                 link_with: vhost_user,
+                                 dependencies: glib)
+
+vhost_user_dep = declare_dependency(link_with: vhost_user_glib,
+                                    include_directories: include_directories('.'))
diff --git a/tests/meson.build b/tests/meson.build
index afeb6be689..1fa068f27b 100644
--- a/tests/meson.build
+++ b/tests/meson.build
@@ -264,8 +264,7 @@ endforeach
 if have_tools and 'CONFIG_VHOST_USER' in config_host and 'CONFIG_LINUX' in config_host
   executable('vhost-user-bridge',
              sources: files('vhost-user-bridge.c'),
-             link_with: [libvhost_user],
-             dependencies: [qemuutil])
+             dependencies: [qemuutil, vhost_user])
 endif
 
 if have_system and 'CONFIG_POSIX' in config_host
diff --git a/tests/vhost-user-bridge.c b/tests/vhost-user-bridge.c
index bd43607a4d..24815920b2 100644
--- a/tests/vhost-user-bridge.c
+++ b/tests/vhost-user-bridge.c
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 #include "qemu/ctype.h"
 #include "qemu/iov.h"
 #include "standard-headers/linux/virtio_net.h"
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h"
+#include "libvhost-user.h"
 
 #define VHOST_USER_BRIDGE_DEBUG 1
 
diff --git a/tools/virtiofsd/fuse_virtio.c b/tools/virtiofsd/fuse_virtio.c
index 83ba07c6cd..623812c432 100644
--- a/tools/virtiofsd/fuse_virtio.c
+++ b/tools/virtiofsd/fuse_virtio.c
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 #include <grp.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
-#include "contrib/libvhost-user/libvhost-user.h"
+#include "libvhost-user.h"
 
 struct fv_VuDev;
 struct fv_QueueInfo {
diff --git a/tools/virtiofsd/meson.build b/tools/virtiofsd/meson.build
index 17edecf55c..c134ba633f 100644
--- a/tools/virtiofsd/meson.build
+++ b/tools/virtiofsd/meson.build
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ executable('virtiofsd', files(
   'helper.c',
   'passthrough_ll.c',
   'passthrough_seccomp.c'),
-  link_with: libvhost_user,
-  dependencies: [seccomp, qemuutil, libcap_ng],
+  dependencies: [seccomp, qemuutil, libcap_ng, vhost_user],
   install: true,
   install_dir: get_option('libexecdir'))