diff --git a/boards/qemu/xtensa/Kconfig b/boards/qemu/xtensa/Kconfig
index 8cdc6ec28ff21e0..9ec79f85c1ee693 100644
--- a/boards/qemu/xtensa/Kconfig
+++ b/boards/qemu/xtensa/Kconfig
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ config BOARD_QEMU_XTENSA
 	select QEMU_TARGET
 	select ARCH_SUPPORTS_COREDUMP
 	select XTENSA_MMU if BOARD_QEMU_XTENSA_DC233C_MMU
+	select XTENSA_MPU if BOARD_QEMU_XTENSA_SAMPLE_CONTROLLER32_MPU
diff --git a/boards/qemu/xtensa/Kconfig.qemu_xtensa b/boards/qemu/xtensa/Kconfig.qemu_xtensa
index f0aa1c8010c3baa..6d1a9f9ce976ce6 100644
--- a/boards/qemu/xtensa/Kconfig.qemu_xtensa
+++ b/boards/qemu/xtensa/Kconfig.qemu_xtensa
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 config BOARD_QEMU_XTENSA
-	select SOC_XTENSA_DC233C
+	select SOC_XTENSA_SAMPLE_CONTROLLER32 if BOARD_QEMU_XTENSA_SAMPLE_CONTROLLER32_MPU
+	select SOC_XTENSA_DC233C if !BOARD_QEMU_XTENSA_SAMPLE_CONTROLLER32_MPU
diff --git a/boards/qemu/xtensa/board.cmake b/boards/qemu/xtensa/board.cmake
index 40818845da6d029..a11c7e8c1583a2c 100644
--- a/boards/qemu/xtensa/board.cmake
+++ b/boards/qemu/xtensa/board.cmake
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
 set(SUPPORTED_EMU_PLATFORMS qemu)
 
 if(CONFIG_BOARD_QEMU_XTENSA)
-  set(QEMU_CPU_TYPE_${ARCH} dc233c)
+  set(QEMU_CPU_TYPE_${ARCH} ${CONFIG_SOC})
 
   set(QEMU_FLAGS_${ARCH}
-    -machine sim -semihosting -nographic -cpu dc233c
+    -machine sim -semihosting -nographic -cpu ${CONFIG_SOC}
   )
 endif()
 
diff --git a/boards/qemu/xtensa/board.yml b/boards/qemu/xtensa/board.yml
index 1441dcc25fc6abe..0b2afcd48832697 100644
--- a/boards/qemu/xtensa/board.yml
+++ b/boards/qemu/xtensa/board.yml
@@ -5,3 +5,6 @@ board:
   - name: dc233c
     variants:
     - name: mmu
+  - name: sample_controller32
+    variants:
+    - name: mpu
diff --git a/boards/qemu/xtensa/qemu_xtensa_sample_controller32_mpu.dts b/boards/qemu/xtensa/qemu_xtensa_sample_controller32_mpu.dts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..4fba5a197f0ff45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/qemu/xtensa/qemu_xtensa_sample_controller32_mpu.dts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2019, 2023 Intel Corporation.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+/dts-v1/;
+
+#include "sample_controller32.dtsi"
+
+/ {
+	model = "qemu_xtensa_mpu";
+	compatible = "cdns,xtensa-sample-controller32";
+
+	chosen {
+		zephyr,sram = &sram0;
+	};
+};
+
+&cpu0 {
+	clock-frequency = <10000000>;
+};
diff --git a/boards/qemu/xtensa/qemu_xtensa_sample_controller32_mpu.yaml b/boards/qemu/xtensa/qemu_xtensa_sample_controller32_mpu.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..5c91f09db79ce01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/qemu/xtensa/qemu_xtensa_sample_controller32_mpu.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+identifier: qemu_xtensa/sample_controller32/mpu
+name: QEMU Emulation for Xtensa with MPU
+type: qemu
+simulation: qemu
+arch: xtensa
+testing:
+  default: true
+  ignore_tags:
+    - net
+    - bluetooth
diff --git a/boards/qemu/xtensa/qemu_xtensa_sample_controller32_mpu_defconfig b/boards/qemu/xtensa/qemu_xtensa_sample_controller32_mpu_defconfig
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..8e34107fe3df37b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/qemu/xtensa/qemu_xtensa_sample_controller32_mpu_defconfig
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+CONFIG_MAIN_STACK_SIZE=2048
+CONFIG_CONSOLE=y
+CONFIG_SYS_CLOCK_HW_CYCLES_PER_SEC=10000000
+CONFIG_STACK_SENTINEL=y
+CONFIG_GEN_ISR_TABLES=y
+CONFIG_GEN_IRQ_VECTOR_TABLE=n
+CONFIG_SIMULATOR_XTENSA=y
+CONFIG_QEMU_ICOUNT_SHIFT=6
+CONFIG_PRIVILEGED_STACK_SIZE=4096