diff --git a/include/hw/arm/virt.h b/include/hw/arm/virt.h
index 54bcf17afd3..dff67e1bef0 100644
--- a/include/hw/arm/virt.h
+++ b/include/hw/arm/virt.h
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ typedef struct {
     bool its;
     bool virt;
     bool ras;
+    bool mte;
     OnOffAuto acpi;
     VirtGICType gic_version;
     VirtIOMMUType iommu;
diff --git a/hw/arm/virt.c b/hw/arm/virt.c
index 9005dae356b..5866c4ce202 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt.c
@@ -1837,12 +1837,19 @@ static void machvirt_init(MachineState *machine)
                                      OBJECT(secure_sysmem), &error_abort);
         }
 
-        /*
-         * The cpu adds the property if and only if MemTag is supported.
-         * If it is, we must allocate the ram to back that up.
-         */
-        if (object_property_find(cpuobj, "tag-memory", NULL)) {
+        if (vms->mte) {
+            /* Create the memory region only once, but link to all cpus. */
             if (!tag_sysmem) {
+                /*
+                 * The property exists only if MemTag is supported.
+                 * If it is, we must allocate the ram to back that up.
+                 */
+                if (!object_property_find(cpuobj, "tag-memory", NULL)) {
+                    error_report("MTE requested, but not supported "
+                                 "by the guest CPU");
+                    exit(1);
+                }
+
                 tag_sysmem = g_new(MemoryRegion, 1);
                 memory_region_init(tag_sysmem, OBJECT(machine),
                                    "tag-memory", UINT64_MAX / 32);
@@ -2061,6 +2068,20 @@ static void virt_set_ras(Object *obj, bool value, Error **errp)
     vms->ras = value;
 }
 
+static bool virt_get_mte(Object *obj, Error **errp)
+{
+    VirtMachineState *vms = VIRT_MACHINE(obj);
+
+    return vms->mte;
+}
+
+static void virt_set_mte(Object *obj, bool value, Error **errp)
+{
+    VirtMachineState *vms = VIRT_MACHINE(obj);
+
+    vms->mte = value;
+}
+
 static char *virt_get_gic_version(Object *obj, Error **errp)
 {
     VirtMachineState *vms = VIRT_MACHINE(obj);
@@ -2481,6 +2502,14 @@ static void virt_instance_init(Object *obj)
                                     "Set on/off to enable/disable reporting host memory errors "
                                     "to a KVM guest using ACPI and guest external abort exceptions");
 
+    /* MTE is disabled by default.  */
+    vms->mte = false;
+    object_property_add_bool(obj, "mte", virt_get_mte, virt_set_mte);
+    object_property_set_description(obj, "mte",
+                                    "Set on/off to enable/disable emulating a "
+                                    "guest CPU which implements the ARM "
+                                    "Memory Tagging Extension");
+
     vms->irqmap = a15irqmap;
 
     virt_flash_create(vms);
diff --git a/target/arm/cpu.c b/target/arm/cpu.c
index 5050e1843a8..111579554fb 100644
--- a/target/arm/cpu.c
+++ b/target/arm/cpu.c
@@ -1698,6 +1698,17 @@ static void arm_cpu_realizefn(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
         cpu->id_pfr1 &= ~0xf000;
     }
 
+#ifndef CONFIG_USER_ONLY
+    if (cpu->tag_memory == NULL && cpu_isar_feature(aa64_mte, cpu)) {
+        /*
+         * Disable the MTE feature bits if we do not have tag-memory
+         * provided by the machine.
+         */
+        cpu->isar.id_aa64pfr1 =
+            FIELD_DP64(cpu->isar.id_aa64pfr1, ID_AA64PFR1, MTE, 0);
+    }
+#endif
+
     /* MPU can be configured out of a PMSA CPU either by setting has-mpu
      * to false or by setting pmsav7-dregion to 0.
      */
@@ -1787,14 +1798,6 @@ static void arm_cpu_realizefn(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
             cpu_address_space_init(cs, ARMASIdx_TagS, "cpu-tag-memory",
                                    cpu->secure_tag_memory);
         }
-    } else if (cpu_isar_feature(aa64_mte, cpu)) {
-        /*
-         * Since there is no tag memory, we can't meaningfully support MTE
-         * to its fullest.  To avoid problems later, when we would come to
-         * use the tag memory, downgrade support to insns only.
-         */
-        cpu->isar.id_aa64pfr1 =
-            FIELD_DP64(cpu->isar.id_aa64pfr1, ID_AA64PFR1, MTE, 1);
     }
 
     cpu_address_space_init(cs, ARMASIdx_NS, "cpu-memory", cs->memory);
diff --git a/target/arm/cpu64.c b/target/arm/cpu64.c
index 15494002d20..dd696183dfb 100644
--- a/target/arm/cpu64.c
+++ b/target/arm/cpu64.c
@@ -646,8 +646,9 @@ static void aarch64_max_initfn(Object *obj)
         t = cpu->isar.id_aa64pfr1;
         t = FIELD_DP64(t, ID_AA64PFR1, BT, 1);
         /*
-         * Begin with full support for MTE; will be downgraded to MTE=1
-         * during realize if the board provides no tag memory.
+         * Begin with full support for MTE. This will be downgraded to MTE=0
+         * during realize if the board provides no tag memory, much like
+         * we do for EL2 with the virtualization=on property.
          */
         t = FIELD_DP64(t, ID_AA64PFR1, MTE, 2);
         cpu->isar.id_aa64pfr1 = t;
