diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 7806c5308..40e1b1066 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -505,11 +505,14 @@ enable_ppp = get_option('ppp')
 if enable_ppp
   assert(cc.has_header('pppd/pppd.h'), 'couldn\'t find pppd.h. pppd development headers are required')
 
-  locations = get_option('pppd')
-  pppd = find_program(locations, required: false)
-  assert(pppd.found(), 'pppd required but not found, please provide a valid pppd path or use -Dppp=false to disable it')
+  pppd_path = get_option('pppd')
+  if pppd_path == ''
+    pppd = find_program('pppd', '/sbin/pppd', '/usr/sbin/pppd', required: false)
+    assert(pppd.found(), 'pppd required but not found, please provide a valid pppd path or use -Dppp=false to disable it')
+    pppd_path = pppd.path()
+  endif
 
-  config_h.set_quoted('PPPD_PATH', pppd.path())
+  config_h.set_quoted('PPPD_PATH', pppd_path)
 
   pppd_plugin_dir = get_option('pppd_plugin_dir')
   if pppd_plugin_dir == ''
@@ -984,7 +987,7 @@ output += '  wifi: ' + enable_wifi.to_string() + '\n'
 output += '  iwd:  ' + enable_iwd.to_string() + '\n'
 output += '  pppd: ' + enable_ppp.to_string()
 if enable_ppp
-  output += ' ' + pppd.path()
+  output += ' ' + pppd_path
 endif
 output += '\n'
 output += '  modemmanager-1: ' + enable_modem_manager.to_string() + '\n'
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 6bd1eec3c..82971e552 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ option('wext', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Enable or disable Lin
 option('wifi', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'enable Wi-Fi support')
 option('iwd', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'enable iwd support (experimental)')
 option('ppp', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'enable PPP/PPPoE support')
-option('pppd', type: 'array', value: ['pppd', '/sbin/pppd', '/usr/sbin/pppd'], description: 'path to pppd binary')
+option('pppd', type: 'string', value: '', description: 'path to pppd binary')
 option('pppd_plugin_dir', type: 'string', value: '', description: 'path to the pppd plugins directory')
 option('modem_manager', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'Enable new ModemManager1 interface support')
 option('ofono', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'Enable oFono support (experimental)')