diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c
index d84f1ee33..9182653df 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-sink.c
@@ -797,6 +797,8 @@ impl_init(const struct spa_handle_factory *factory,
 			this->default_period_size = atoi(info->items[i].value);
 		} else if (!strcmp(info->items[i].key, "api.alsa.headroom")) {
 			this->default_headroom = atoi(info->items[i].value);
+		} else if (!strcmp(info->items[i].key, "api.alsa.disable-mmap")) {
+			this->disable_mmap = atoi(info->items[i].value);
 		}
 	}
 	return 0;
diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-source.c b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-source.c
index 81f03f8f4..22b4a3069 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-source.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm-source.c
@@ -818,6 +818,8 @@ impl_init(const struct spa_handle_factory *factory,
 			this->default_period_size = atoi(info->items[i].value);
 		} else if (!strcmp(info->items[i].key, "api.alsa.headroom")) {
 			this->default_headroom = atoi(info->items[i].value);
+		} else if (!strcmp(info->items[i].key, "api.alsa.disable-mmap")) {
+			this->disable_mmap = atoi(info->items[i].value);
 		}
 	}
 	return 0;
diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c
index 3fda9f195..17c041323 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.c
@@ -516,11 +516,17 @@ int spa_alsa_set_format(struct state *state, struct spa_audio_info *fmt, uint32_
 	snd_pcm_access_mask_alloca(&amask);
 	snd_pcm_hw_params_get_access_mask(params, amask);
 
-	if ((err = snd_pcm_hw_params_set_access(hndl, params,
-				planar ? SND_PCM_ACCESS_MMAP_NONINTERLEAVED
-				: SND_PCM_ACCESS_MMAP_INTERLEAVED)) < 0) {
-		spa_log_debug(state->log, NAME" %p: MMAP not possible: %s", state,
-				snd_strerror(err));
+	state->use_mmap = !state->disable_mmap;
+	if (state->use_mmap) {
+		if ((err = snd_pcm_hw_params_set_access(hndl, params,
+					planar ? SND_PCM_ACCESS_MMAP_NONINTERLEAVED
+					: SND_PCM_ACCESS_MMAP_INTERLEAVED)) < 0) {
+			spa_log_debug(state->log, NAME" %p: MMAP not possible: %s", state,
+					snd_strerror(err));
+			state->use_mmap = false;
+		}
+	}
+	if (!state->use_mmap) {
 		if ((err = snd_pcm_hw_params_set_access(hndl, params,
 				planar ? SND_PCM_ACCESS_RW_NONINTERLEAVED
 				: SND_PCM_ACCESS_RW_INTERLEAVED)) < 0) {
@@ -528,9 +534,6 @@ int spa_alsa_set_format(struct state *state, struct spa_audio_info *fmt, uint32_
 					snd_strerror(err));
 			return err;
 		}
-		state->use_mmap = false;
-	} else {
-		state->use_mmap = true;
 	}
 
 	/* disable ALSA wakeups, we use a timer */
diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.h b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.h
index 35d266ca4..69ab6f690 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.h
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-pcm.h
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ struct state {
 	unsigned int default_channels;
 	unsigned int default_rate;
 	struct channel_map default_pos;
+	unsigned int disable_mmap;
 
 	snd_pcm_uframes_t buffer_frames;
 	snd_pcm_uframes_t period_frames;
diff --git a/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf b/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf
index da5f7a2a6..01cde4e6d 100644
--- a/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf
+++ b/src/daemon/media-session.d/alsa-monitor.conf
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ rules = [
                 #audio.position = 		"FL,FR"
                 #api.alsa.period-size =         1024
                 #api.alsa.headroom =            0
+                #api.alsa.disable-mmap =        false
             }
         }
     }