diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 7a2d35952a3cca12c287214c7e4dc5ab05ff3527..84605b5ef710e0119086dc786ff49f9f29408cbb 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1138,6 +1138,7 @@ lib/_autoconf.py: Makefile | lib/.dir
 	  echo "ENABLE_CONFD = $(ENABLE_CONFD)"; \
 	  echo "PY_CONFD = $(PY_CONFD)"; \
 	  echo "HS_CONFD = $(HS_CONFD)"; \
+	  echo "XEN_CMD = '$(XEN_CMD)'"; \
 	} > $@
 
 lib/_vcsversion.py: Makefile vcs-version | lib/.dir
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index f93920437f1df04211ae2d59d148392a9522164a..484e2ef8c8ed58d9f6900cb6e6bca6ef6bc8d81a 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -98,6 +98,19 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([xen-initrd],
   [xen_initrd="/boot/initrd-3-xenU"])
 AC_SUBST(XEN_INITRD, $xen_initrd)
 
+# --with-xen-cmd=...
+AC_ARG_WITH([xen-cmd],
+  [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-xen-cmd=CMD],
+    [Sets the xen cli interface command (default is xm)]
+  )],
+  [xen_cmd="$withval"],
+  [xen_cmd="xm"])
+AC_SUBST(XEN_CMD, $xen_cmd)
+
+if ! (test "$XEN_CMD" == "xl" || test "$XEN_CMD" == "xm"); then
+  AC_MSG_ERROR([Unsupported xen command specified])
+fi
+
 # --with-kvm-kernel=...
 AC_ARG_WITH([kvm-kernel],
   [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-kvm-kernel=PATH],