diff --git a/boards/arm/mps3_an547/Kconfig.defconfig b/boards/arm/mps3_an547/Kconfig.defconfig
index 93571b1472a..52c7b6bbcaa 100644
--- a/boards/arm/mps3_an547/Kconfig.defconfig
+++ b/boards/arm/mps3_an547/Kconfig.defconfig
@@ -6,6 +6,14 @@ if BOARD_MPS3_AN547
 config BOARD
 	default "mps3_an547"
 
+# MPU-based null-pointer dereferencing detection cannot
+# be applied as the (0x0 - 0x400) is unmapped but QEMU
+# will still permit bus access.
+choice NULL_POINTER_EXCEPTION_DETECTION
+	bool
+	default NULL_POINTER_EXCEPTION_DETECTION_NONE if QEMU_TARGET
+endchoice
+
 if GPIO
 
 config GPIO_CMSDK_AHB