diff --git a/modules/microvm/virtualization/microvm/appvm.nix b/modules/microvm/virtualization/microvm/appvm.nix
index e04536f4e..393d60485 100644
--- a/modules/microvm/virtualization/microvm/appvm.nix
+++ b/modules/microvm/virtualization/microvm/appvm.nix
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ let
 
                 ghaf-audio = {
                   inherit (vm.ghafAudio) enable;
+                  inherit (vm.ghafAudio) useTunneling;
                   name = "${vm.name}";
                 };
 
@@ -270,7 +271,10 @@ in
               type = types.nullOr types.str;
               default = null;
             };
-            ghafAudio.enable = lib.mkEnableOption "Ghaf application audio support";
+            ghafAudio = {
+              enable = lib.mkEnableOption "Ghaf application audio support";
+              useTunneling = lib.mkEnableOption "Use Pulseaudio tunneling";
+            };
             vtpm.enable = lib.mkEnableOption "vTPM support in the virtual machine";
           };
         }
diff --git a/modules/microvm/virtualization/microvm/common/ghaf-audio.nix b/modules/microvm/virtualization/microvm/common/ghaf-audio.nix
index 2d0116f3e..9be8fbe77 100644
--- a/modules/microvm/virtualization/microvm/common/ghaf-audio.nix
+++ b/modules/microvm/virtualization/microvm/common/ghaf-audio.nix
@@ -23,16 +23,18 @@ in
       '';
       type = types.str;
     };
+
+    useTunneling = mkEnableOption "Enable local pulseaudio with tunneling";
   };
 
   config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
-    security.rtkit.enable = true;
-    users.extraUsers.ghaf.extraGroups = [
+    security.rtkit.enable = cfg.useTunneling;
+    users.extraUsers.ghaf.extraGroups = lib.mkIf cfg.useTunneling [
       "audio"
       "video"
     ];
 
-    hardware.pulseaudio = {
+    hardware.pulseaudio = lib.mkIf cfg.useTunneling {
       enable = true;
       extraConfig = ''
         load-module module-tunnel-sink-new sink_name=${cfg.name}.speaker server=${address} reconnect_interval_ms=${toString reconnectMs}
@@ -40,5 +42,12 @@ in
       '';
       package = pkgs.pulseaudio-ghaf;
     };
+
+    environment = lib.mkIf (!cfg.useTunneling) {
+      systemPackages = [ pkgs.pulseaudio ];
+      sessionVariables = rec {
+        PULSE_SERVER = "${address}";
+      };
+    };
   };
 }