diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0750a39d68..6cca8b9ed4 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -537,6 +537,14 @@
     ])
     AM_CONDITIONAL([DEBUG_VALIDATION], [test "x$enable_debug_validation" = "xyes"])
 
+  # enable qa-simulation mode -- disabled by default
+    AC_ARG_ENABLE(qa-simulation,
+           AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-qa-simulation], [Enable qa-simulation mode]))
+    AS_IF([test "x$enable_qa_simulation" = "xyes"], [
+        AC_DEFINE([QA_SIMULATION],[1],[Enable qa-simulation mode])
+    ])
+    AM_CONDITIONAL([QA_SIMULATION], [test "x$enable_qa_simulation" = "xyes"])
+
   # profiling support
     AC_ARG_ENABLE(profiling,
            AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-profiling], [Enable performance profiling]),[enable_profiling=$enableval],[enable_profiling=no])
@@ -2643,6 +2651,7 @@ Development settings:
   Unit tests enabled:                      ${enable_unittests}
   Debug output enabled:                    ${enable_debug}
   Debug validation enabled:                ${enable_debug_validation}
+  QA-simulation enabled:                   ${enable_qa_simulation}
   Fuzz targets enabled:                    ${enable_fuzztargets}
 
 Generic build parameters:
diff --git a/src/suricata.c b/src/suricata.c
index 3b33c5638f..c5e51a4714 100644
--- a/src/suricata.c
+++ b/src/suricata.c
@@ -746,6 +746,7 @@ static void PrintBuildInfo(void)
 {
     const char *bits;
     const char *endian;
+    /* If all current features are enabled, features string would be 341 characters long */
     char features[2048] = "";
     const char *tls;
 
@@ -756,6 +757,9 @@ static void PrintBuildInfo(void)
 #ifdef DEBUG_VALIDATION
     strlcat(features, "DEBUG_VALIDATION ", sizeof(features));
 #endif
+#ifdef QA_SIMULATION
+    strlcat(features, "QA_SIMULATION ", sizeof(features));
+#endif
 #ifdef UNITTESTS
     strlcat(features, "UNITTESTS ", sizeof(features));
 #endif