diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 1eb19eef53..b1500f60bc 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1098,6 +1098,12 @@ dnl
 
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_LOGIN_SHELL
 
+dnl
+dnl Check for virt-host-validate
+dnl
+
+LIBVIRT_CHECK_HOST_VALIDATE
+
 AM_CONDITIONAL([WITH_SETUID_RPC_CLIENT], [test "$with_lxc$with_login_shell" != "nono"])
 
 dnl
@@ -2925,17 +2931,18 @@ AC_MSG_NOTICE([        Alloc OOM: $enable_oom])
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([])
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([Miscellaneous])
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([            Debug: $enable_debug])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([      Use -Werror: $set_werror])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([    Warning Flags: $WARN_CFLAGS])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([           DTrace: $with_dtrace])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([            numad: $with_numad])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([      XML Catalog: $XML_CATALOG_FILE])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([      Init script: $with_init_script])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([Char device locks: $with_chrdev_lock_files])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([   Default Editor: $DEFAULT_EDITOR])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([     Loader/NVRAM: $with_loader_nvram])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([ virt-login-shell: $with_login_shell])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([             Debug: $enable_debug])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([       Use -Werror: $set_werror])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([     Warning Flags: $WARN_CFLAGS])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([            DTrace: $with_dtrace])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([             numad: $with_numad])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([       XML Catalog: $XML_CATALOG_FILE])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([       Init script: $with_init_script])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([ Char device locks: $with_chrdev_lock_files])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([    Default Editor: $DEFAULT_EDITOR])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([      Loader/NVRAM: $with_loader_nvram])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([  virt-login-shell: $with_login_shell])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([virt-host-validate: $with_host_validate])
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([])
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([Developer Tools])
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([])
diff --git a/m4/virt-host-validate.m4 b/m4/virt-host-validate.m4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a56fe4154e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/m4/virt-host-validate.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+dnl Copyright (C) 2015 SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, Nuernberg, Germany.
+dnl Copyright (C) 2016 Red Hat, Inc.
+dnl
+dnl This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+dnl modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+dnl License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+dnl version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+dnl
+dnl This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+dnl but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+dnl MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+dnl Lesser General Public License for more details.
+dnl
+dnl You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+dnl License along with this library.  If not, see
+dnl <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_CHECK_HOST_VALIDATE], [
+  AC_ARG_WITH([host_validate],
+    [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-host-validate],
+      [build virt-host-validate @<:@default=check@:>@])])
+  m4_divert_text([DEFAULTS], [with_host_validate=check])
+
+  if test "x$with_host_validate" != "xno"; then
+    if test "x$with_win" = "xyes"; then
+      if test "x$with_host_validate" = "xyes"; then
+        AC_MSG_ERROR([virt-host-validate is not supported on Windows])
+      else
+        with_host_validate=no;
+      fi
+    else
+      with_host_validate=yes;
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  if test "x$with_host_validate" = "xyes" ; then
+      AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([WITH_HOST_VALIDATE], 1, [whether virt-host-validate is built])
+  fi
+  AM_CONDITIONAL([WITH_HOST_VALIDATE], [test "x$with_host_validate" = "xyes"])
+])
diff --git a/tools/Makefile.am b/tools/Makefile.am
index 890cdd98b6..560a9a5bc7 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile.am
+++ b/tools/Makefile.am
@@ -64,10 +64,9 @@ confdir = $(sysconfdir)/libvirt
 conf_DATA =
 
 bin_SCRIPTS = virt-xml-validate virt-pki-validate
-bin_PROGRAMS = virsh virt-host-validate virt-admin
+bin_PROGRAMS = virsh virt-admin
 libexec_SCRIPTS = libvirt-guests.sh
 dist_man1_MANS = \
-		virt-host-validate.1 \
 		virt-pki-validate.1 \
 		virt-xml-validate.1 \
 		virsh.1 \
@@ -89,6 +88,13 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 		virt-login-shell.1
 endif ! WITH_LOGIN_SHELL
 
+if WITH_HOST_VALIDATE
+bin_PROGRAMS += virt-host-validate
+dist_man1_MANS += virt-host-validate.1
+else ! WITH_HOST_VALIDATE
+EXTRA_DIST += virt-host-validate.1
+endif ! WITH_HOST_VALIDATE
+
 virt-xml-validate: virt-xml-validate.in Makefile
 	$(AM_V_GEN)sed -e 's|[@]schemadir@|$(pkgdatadir)/schemas|g' \
 		       -e 's|[@]VERSION@|$(VERSION)|g' \