diff --git a/mesonbuild/build.py b/mesonbuild/build.py
index 9c2cb1ae7..025af1505 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/build.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/build.py
@@ -1152,10 +1152,10 @@ class BuildTarget(Target):
             # was not specified and win_subsystem should be used instead.
             self.gui_app = None
             if kwargs.get('gui_app') is not None:
-                if 'win_subsystem' in kwargs:
+                if kwargs.get('win_subsystem') is not None:
                     raise InvalidArguments('Can specify only gui_app or win_subsystem for a target, not both.')
                 self.gui_app = kwargs['gui_app']
-            self.win_subsystem = self.validate_win_subsystem(kwargs.get('win_subsystem', 'console'))
+            self.win_subsystem = kwargs.get('win_subsystem', 'console')
         elif 'gui_app' in kwargs:
             raise InvalidArguments('Argument gui_app can only be used on executables.')
         elif 'win_subsystem' in kwargs:
@@ -1240,12 +1240,6 @@ class BuildTarget(Target):
             raise InvalidArguments(f'Invalid rust_dependency_map "{rust_dependency_map}": must be a dictionary with string values.')
         self.rust_dependency_map = rust_dependency_map
 
-    def validate_win_subsystem(self, value: str) -> str:
-        value = value.lower()
-        if re.fullmatch(r'(boot_application|console|efi_application|efi_boot_service_driver|efi_rom|efi_runtime_driver|native|posix|windows)(,\d+(\.\d+)?)?', value) is None:
-            raise InvalidArguments(f'Invalid value for win_subsystem: {value}.')
-        return value
-
     def _extract_pic_pie(self, kwargs, arg: str, option: str):
         # Check if we have -fPIC, -fpic, -fPIE, or -fpie in cflags
         all_flags = self.extra_args['c'] + self.extra_args['cpp']
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
index 69a48faf4..125562fe3 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
@@ -1807,7 +1807,6 @@ class Interpreter(InterpreterBase, HoldableObject):
         return Disabler()
 
     @FeatureNewKwargs('executable', '0.42.0', ['implib'])
-    @FeatureNewKwargs('executable', '0.56.0', ['win_subsystem'])
     @permittedKwargs(build.known_exe_kwargs)
     @typed_pos_args('executable', str, varargs=(str, mesonlib.File, build.CustomTarget, build.CustomTargetIndex, build.GeneratedList, build.StructuredSources, build.ExtractedObjects, build.BuildTarget))
     @typed_kwargs('executable', *EXECUTABLE_KWS, allow_unknown=True)
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py
index 07b6165f7..13b7430b3 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py
@@ -329,6 +329,7 @@ class _BuildTarget(_BaseBuildTarget):
 class Executable(_BuildTarget):
 
     gui_app: T.Optional[bool]
+    win_subsystem: T.Optional[str]
 
 
 class StaticLibrary(_BuildTarget):
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py
index 2b78eb6c8..b919d6a54 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 import os
+import re
 import typing as T
 
 from .. import compilers
@@ -490,10 +491,22 @@ _BUILD_TARGET_KWS: T.List[KwargInfo] = [
     *_ALL_TARGET_KWS,
 ]
 
+def _validate_win_subsystem(value: T.Optional[str]) -> T.Optional[str]:
+    if value is not None:
+        if re.fullmatch(r'(boot_application|console|efi_application|efi_boot_service_driver|efi_rom|efi_runtime_driver|native|posix|windows)(,\d+(\.\d+)?)?', value) is None:
+            return f'Invalid value for win_subsystem: {value}.'
+    return None
+
 # Arguments exclusive to Executable. These are separated to make integrating
 # them into build_target easier
 _EXCLUSIVE_EXECUTABLE_KWS: T.List[KwargInfo] = [
-    KwargInfo('gui_app', (bool, NoneType), deprecated='0.56.0', deprecated_message="Use 'win_subsystem' instead")
+    KwargInfo('gui_app', (bool, NoneType), deprecated='0.56.0', deprecated_message="Use 'win_subsystem' instead"),
+    KwargInfo(
+        'win_subsystem',
+        (str, NoneType),
+        convertor=lambda x: x.lower() if isinstance(x, str) else None,
+        validator=_validate_win_subsystem,
+    ),
 ]
 
 # The total list of arguments used by Executable