diff --git a/src/qemu/libvirtd_qemu.aug b/src/qemu/libvirtd_qemu.aug
index 5bd60b3629963687b28d97b45e0e08a1ca6a5233..551cc20fd8b027bb2f35f6f300d5142e0fbfedf2 100644
--- a/src/qemu/libvirtd_qemu.aug
+++ b/src/qemu/libvirtd_qemu.aug
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ module Libvirtd_qemu =
                  | str_entry "save_image_format"
                  | str_entry "hugetlbfs_mount"
                  | bool_entry "relaxed_acs_check"
+                 | bool_entry "vnc_allow_host_audio"
 
    (* Each enty in the config is one of the following three ... *)
    let entry = vnc_entry
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu.conf b/src/qemu/qemu.conf
index 3da332fc8641dc98ebc1bed807706fef2060b6a8..98a117693f20bf58980b55afb0a842fbdc571ab1 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu.conf
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu.conf
@@ -168,3 +168,13 @@
 # be assigned to guests.
 #
 # relaxed_acs_check = 1
+
+
+# QEMU implements an extension for providing audio over a VNC connection,
+# though if your VNC client does not support it, your only chance for getting
+# sound output is through regular audio backends. By default, libvirt will
+# disable all QEMU sound backends if using VNC, since they can cause
+# permissions issues. Enabling this option will make libvirtd honor the
+# QEMU_AUDIO_DRV environment variable when using VNC.
+#
+# vnc_allow_host_audio = 0
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
index 2755545e792d589e701919b755be2b3b1ce0e030..b4d8e74cbd877f6741c291ad77163e4a0c56d11e 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
@@ -351,6 +351,10 @@ int qemudLoadDriverConfig(struct qemud_driver *driver,
     CHECK_TYPE ("relaxed_acs_check", VIR_CONF_LONG);
     if (p) driver->relaxedACS = p->l;
 
+    p = virConfGetValue (conf, "vnc_allow_host_audio");
+    CHECK_TYPE ("vnc_allow_host_audio", VIR_CONF_LONG);
+    if (p) driver->vncAllowHostAudio = p->l;
+
     virConfFree (conf);
     return 0;
 }
@@ -4399,12 +4403,15 @@ int qemudBuildCommandLine(virConnectPtr conn,
             ADD_ARG_LIT(def->graphics[0]->data.vnc.keymap);
         }
 
-        /* QEMU implements a VNC extension for providing audio, so we
-         * set the audio backend to none, to prevent it opening the
-         * host OS audio devices since that causes security issues
-         * and is non-sensical when using VNC.
+        /* Unless user requested it, set the audio backend to none, to
+         * prevent it opening the host OS audio devices, since that causes
+         * security issues and might not work when using VNC.
          */
-        ADD_ENV_LIT("QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none");
+        if (driver->vncAllowHostAudio) {
+            ADD_ENV_COPY("QEMU_AUDIO_DRV");
+        } else {
+            ADD_ENV_LIT("QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none");
+        }
     } else if ((def->ngraphics == 1) &&
                def->graphics[0]->type == VIR_DOMAIN_GRAPHICS_TYPE_SDL) {
         char *xauth = NULL;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
index 8fd8d798f5706f75bd1b4940115cd98de3f1d0a6..7fb4de57d2eec0c2111f50b6858dc0515457e693 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
@@ -138,6 +138,8 @@ struct qemud_driver {
 
     unsigned int relaxedACS : 1;
 
+    unsigned int vncAllowHostAudio : 1;
+
     virCapsPtr caps;
 
     /* An array of callbacks */
diff --git a/src/qemu/test_libvirtd_qemu.aug b/src/qemu/test_libvirtd_qemu.aug
index 2feedc05cf48749ac960d24e5b3aa5d609acce2a..a048ae55e6016cf6be911afb08ea53e76ccfd230 100644
--- a/src/qemu/test_libvirtd_qemu.aug
+++ b/src/qemu/test_libvirtd_qemu.aug
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ save_image_format = \"gzip\"
 hugetlbfs_mount = \"/dev/hugepages\"
 
 relaxed_acs_check = 1
+
+vnc_allow_host_audio = 1
 "
 
    test Libvirtd_qemu.lns get conf =
@@ -204,3 +206,5 @@ relaxed_acs_check = 1
 { "hugetlbfs_mount" = "/dev/hugepages" }
 { "#empty" }
 { "relaxed_acs_check" = "1" }
+{ "#empty" }
+{ "vnc_allow_host_audio" = "1" }