diff --git a/libweston/backend-x11/meson.build b/libweston/backend-x11/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6acee8ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libweston/backend-x11/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+
+if not get_option('backend-x11')
+	subdir_done()
+endif
+
+config_h.set('BUILD_X11_COMPOSITOR', '1')
+
+srcs_x11 = [
+	'x11.c',
+	presentation_time_server_protocol_h,
+]
+
+dep_x11_xcb = dependency('xcb', version: '>= 1.8', required: false)
+if not dep_x11_xcb.found()
+	error('x11-backend requires xcb >= 1.8 which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Dbackend-x11=false\'.')
+endif
+
+deps_x11 = [
+	dep_libweston,
+	dep_x11_xcb,
+	dep_lib_cairo_shared,
+	dep_pixman,
+]
+
+foreach name : [ 'xcb-shm', 'x11', 'x11-xcb' ]
+	d = dependency(name, required: false)
+	if not d.found()
+		error('x11-backend requires @0@ which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Dbackend-x11=false\'.'.format(name))
+	endif
+	deps_x11 += d
+endforeach
+
+dep_xcb_xkb = dependency('xcb-xkb', version: '>= 1.9', required: false)
+if dep_xcb_xkb.found()
+	deps_x11 += dep_xcb_xkb
+	config_h.set('HAVE_XCB_XKB', '1')
+endif
+
+if get_option('renderer-gl')
+	if not dep_egl.found()
+		error('x11-backend + gl-renderer requires egl which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Dbackend-x11=false\' or \'-Drenderer-gl=false\'.')
+	endif
+	deps_x11 += dep_egl
+endif
+
+plugin_x11 = shared_library(
+	'x11-backend',
+	srcs_x11,
+	include_directories: include_directories('../..', '../../shared'),
+	dependencies: deps_x11,
+	name_prefix: '',
+	install: true,
+	install_dir: dir_module_libweston
+)
+env_modmap += 'x11-backend.so=@0@;'.format(plugin_x11.full_path())
+
+install_headers(backend_x11_h, subdir: dir_include_libweston_install)
diff --git a/libweston/compositor-x11.c b/libweston/backend-x11/x11.c
similarity index 100%
rename from libweston/compositor-x11.c
rename to libweston/backend-x11/x11.c
diff --git a/libweston/meson.build b/libweston/meson.build
index db3a911c..357a910b 100644
--- a/libweston/meson.build
+++ b/libweston/meson.build
@@ -185,62 +185,6 @@ dep_libinput_backend = declare_dependency(
 	include_directories: include_directories('.')
 )
 
-if get_option('backend-x11')
-	config_h.set('BUILD_X11_COMPOSITOR', '1')
-
-	srcs_x11 = [
-		'compositor-x11.c',
-		presentation_time_server_protocol_h,
-	]
-
-	dep_x11_xcb = dependency('xcb', version: '>= 1.8', required: false)
-	if not dep_x11_xcb.found()
-		error('x11-backend requires xcb >= 1.8 which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Dbackend-x11=false\'.')
-	endif
-
-	deps_x11 = [
-		dep_libweston,
-		dep_x11_xcb,
-		dep_lib_cairo_shared,
-		dep_pixman,
-	]
-
-	foreach name : [ 'xcb-shm', 'x11', 'x11-xcb' ]
-		d = dependency(name, required: false)
-		if not d.found()
-			error('x11-backend requires @0@ which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Dbackend-x11=false\'.'.format(name))
-		endif
-		deps_x11 += d
-	endforeach
-
-	dep_xcb_xkb = dependency('xcb-xkb', version: '>= 1.9', required: false)
-	if dep_xcb_xkb.found()
-		deps_x11 += dep_xcb_xkb
-		config_h.set('HAVE_XCB_XKB', '1')
-	endif
-
-	if get_option('renderer-gl')
-		if not dep_egl.found()
-			error('x11-backend + gl-renderer requires egl which was not found. Or, you can use \'-Dbackend-x11=false\' or \'-Drenderer-gl=false\'.')
-		endif
-		deps_x11 += dep_egl
-	endif
-
-	plugin_x11 = shared_library(
-		'x11-backend',
-		srcs_x11,
-		include_directories: include_directories('..', '../shared'),
-		dependencies: deps_x11,
-		name_prefix: '',
-		install: true,
-		install_dir: dir_module_libweston
-	)
-	env_modmap += 'x11-backend.so=@0@;'.format(plugin_x11.full_path())
-
-	install_headers(backend_x11_h, subdir: dir_include_libweston_install)
-endif
-
-
 if get_option('backend-fbdev')
 	config_h.set('BUILD_FBDEV_COMPOSITOR', '1')
 
@@ -298,3 +242,4 @@ subdir('backend-drm')
 subdir('backend-headless')
 subdir('backend-rdp')
 subdir('backend-wayland')
+subdir('backend-x11')