diff --git a/package/qemu/qemu.mk b/package/qemu/qemu.mk
index 58b4ff10a5..cc8dc42a24 100644
--- a/package/qemu/qemu.mk
+++ b/package/qemu/qemu.mk
@@ -488,10 +488,12 @@ define HOST_QEMU_INSTALL_CMDS
 endef
 
 # install symlink to qemu-system
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_QEMU_SYSTEM_MODE),y)
 define HOST_QEMU_POST_INSTALL_SYMLINK
 	ln -sf ./qemu-system-$(HOST_QEMU_ARCH) $(HOST_DIR)/bin/qemu-system
 endef
 HOST_QEMU_POST_INSTALL_HOOKS += HOST_QEMU_POST_INSTALL_SYMLINK
+endif
 
 $(eval $(host-generic-package))