diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 4d12cfbe3f..3f53aa76fd 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -456,6 +456,7 @@ replication="yes"
 vxhs=""
 libxml2=""
 docker="no"
+debug_mutex="no"
 
 # cross compilers defaults, can be overridden with --cross-cc-ARCH
 cross_cc_aarch64="aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc"
@@ -1411,6 +1412,10 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --disable-git-update) git_update=no
   ;;
+  --enable-debug-mutex) debug_mutex=yes
+  ;;
+  --disable-debug-mutex) debug_mutex=no
+  ;;
   *)
       echo "ERROR: unknown option $opt"
       echo "Try '$0 --help' for more information"
@@ -1685,6 +1690,7 @@ disabled with --disable-FEATURE, default is enabled if available:
   crypto-afalg    Linux AF_ALG crypto backend driver
   vhost-user      vhost-user support
   capstone        capstone disassembler support
+  debug-mutex     mutex debugging support
 
 NOTE: The object files are built at the place where configure is launched
 EOF
@@ -5951,6 +5957,7 @@ echo "seccomp support   $seccomp"
 echo "coroutine backend $coroutine"
 echo "coroutine pool    $coroutine_pool"
 echo "debug stack usage $debug_stack_usage"
+echo "mutex debugging   $debug_mutex"
 echo "crypto afalg      $crypto_afalg"
 echo "GlusterFS support $glusterfs"
 echo "gcov              $gcov_tool"
@@ -6704,6 +6711,9 @@ fi
 if test "$capstone" != "no" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_CAPSTONE=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
+if test "$debug_mutex" = "yes" ; then
+  echo "CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEX=y" >> $config_host_mak
+fi
 
 # Hold two types of flag:
 #   CONFIG_THREAD_SETNAME_BYTHREAD  - we've got a way of setting the name on
diff --git a/include/qemu/thread-posix.h b/include/qemu/thread-posix.h
index f3f47e426f..fd27b34128 100644
--- a/include/qemu/thread-posix.h
+++ b/include/qemu/thread-posix.h
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ typedef QemuMutex QemuRecMutex;
 
 struct QemuMutex {
     pthread_mutex_t lock;
+#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEX
+    const char *file;
+    int line;
+#endif
     bool initialized;
 };
 
diff --git a/include/qemu/thread-win32.h b/include/qemu/thread-win32.h
index 3a05e3b3aa..d668d789b4 100644
--- a/include/qemu/thread-win32.h
+++ b/include/qemu/thread-win32.h
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@
 
 struct QemuMutex {
     SRWLOCK lock;
+#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEX
+    const char *file;
+    int line;
+#endif
     bool initialized;
 };
 
diff --git a/util/qemu-thread-common.h b/util/qemu-thread-common.h
index d3292084d6..a0ea7c0d92 100644
--- a/util/qemu-thread-common.h
+++ b/util/qemu-thread-common.h
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@
 
 static inline void qemu_mutex_post_init(QemuMutex *mutex)
 {
+#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEX
+    mutex->file = NULL;
+    mutex->line = 0;
+#endif
     mutex->initialized = true;
 }
 
@@ -31,12 +35,20 @@ static inline void qemu_mutex_pre_lock(QemuMutex *mutex,
 static inline void qemu_mutex_post_lock(QemuMutex *mutex,
                                         const char *file, int line)
 {
+#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEX
+    mutex->file = file;
+    mutex->line = line;
+#endif
     trace_qemu_mutex_locked(mutex, file, line);
 }
 
 static inline void qemu_mutex_pre_unlock(QemuMutex *mutex,
                                          const char *file, int line)
 {
+#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEX
+    mutex->file = NULL;
+    mutex->line = 0;
+#endif
     trace_qemu_mutex_unlock(mutex, file, line);
 }