diff --git a/cranelift/Cargo.toml b/cranelift/Cargo.toml
index bf788bf691..3635f5d065 100644
--- a/cranelift/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cranelift/Cargo.toml
@@ -50,6 +50,6 @@ default = ["disas", "wasm", "cranelift-codegen/all-arch", "peepmatic-souper", "s
 disas = ["capstone"]
 enable-peepmatic = ["cranelift-codegen/enable-peepmatic", "cranelift-filetests/enable-peepmatic"]
 wasm = ["wat", "cranelift-wasm"]
-experimental_x64 = ["cranelift-codegen/x64"]
-experimental_arm32 = ["cranelift-codegen/arm32"]
+experimental_x64 = ["cranelift-codegen/x64", "cranelift-filetests/experimental_x64", "cranelift-reader/experimental_x64"]
+experimental_arm32 = ["cranelift-codegen/arm32", "cranelift-filetests/experimental_arm32"]
 souper-harvest = ["cranelift-codegen/souper-harvest", "rayon"]
diff --git a/cranelift/filetests/Cargo.toml b/cranelift/filetests/Cargo.toml
index e251b477a0..be4ce7051d 100644
--- a/cranelift/filetests/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cranelift/filetests/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,3 +29,5 @@ anyhow = "1.0.32"
 
 [features]
 enable-peepmatic = []
+experimental_arm32 = []
+experimental_x64 = []
diff --git a/cranelift/filetests/filetests/isa/x64/basic.clif b/cranelift/filetests/filetests/isa/x64/basic.clif
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..17897d2bb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cranelift/filetests/filetests/isa/x64/basic.clif
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+test compile
+target x86_64
+feature "experimental_x64"
+
+function %f(i32, i32) -> i32 {
+block0(v0: i32, v1: i32):
+    ; check: pushq   %rbp
+    ; check: movq    %rsp, %rbp
+    v2 = iadd v0, v1
+    ; check: addl    %esi, %edi
+    return v2
+    ; check: movq    %rdi, %rax
+    ; check: movq    %rbp, %rsp
+    ; check: popq    %rbp
+    ; check: ret
+}
diff --git a/cranelift/filetests/filetests/isa/x64/run-const.clif b/cranelift/filetests/filetests/isa/x64/run-const.clif
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..af0a85353c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cranelift/filetests/filetests/isa/x64/run-const.clif
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+test run
+target x86_64
+feature "experimental_x64"
+
+function %test_compare_i32() -> b1 {
+block0:
+    v0 = iconst.i32 42
+    v1 = iconst.i32 42
+    v2 = icmp eq v0, v1
+    return v2
+}
+
+; run
diff --git a/cranelift/filetests/src/runone.rs b/cranelift/filetests/src/runone.rs
index 310b173cf0..c38315568c 100644
--- a/cranelift/filetests/src/runone.rs
+++ b/cranelift/filetests/src/runone.rs
@@ -9,13 +9,55 @@ use cranelift_codegen::print_errors::pretty_verifier_error;
 use cranelift_codegen::settings::Flags;
 use cranelift_codegen::timing;
 use cranelift_codegen::verify_function;
-use cranelift_reader::{parse_test, Feature, IsaSpec, ParseOptions};
+use cranelift_reader::{parse_test, Feature, IsaSpec, ParseOptions, TestFile};
 use log::info;
 use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::fs;
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::time;
 
+/// Skip the tests which define features and for which there's a feature mismatch.
+///
+/// When a test must be skipped, returns an Option with a string containing an explanation why;
+/// otherwise, return None.
+fn skip_feature_mismatches(testfile: &TestFile) -> Option<&'static str> {
+    let mut has_experimental_x64 = false;
+    let mut has_experimental_arm32 = false;
+
+    for feature in &testfile.features {
+        if let Feature::With(name) = feature {
+            match *name {
+                "experimental_x64" => has_experimental_x64 = true,
+                "experimental_arm32" => has_experimental_arm32 = true,
+                _ => {}
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // On the experimental x64 backend, skip tests which are not marked with the feature and
+    // that want to run on the x86_64 target isa.
+    #[cfg(feature = "experimental_x64")]
+    if let IsaSpec::Some(ref isas) = testfile.isa_spec {
+        if isas.iter().any(|isa| isa.name() == "x64") && !has_experimental_x64 {
+            return Some("test requiring x86_64 not marked with experimental_x64");
+        }
+    }
+
+    // On other targets, ignore tests marked as experimental_x64 only.
+    #[cfg(not(feature = "experimental_x64"))]
+    if has_experimental_x64 {
+        return Some("missing support for experimental_x64");
+    }
+
+    // Don't run tests if the experimental support for arm32 is disabled.
+    #[cfg(not(feature = "experimental_arm32"))]
+    if has_experimental_arm32 {
+        return Some("missing support for experimental_arm32");
+    }
+
+    None
+}
+
 /// Load `path` and run the test in it.
 ///
 /// If running this test causes a panic, it will propagate as normal.
@@ -51,12 +93,8 @@ pub fn run(
         }
     };
 
-    #[cfg(not(feature = "experimental_arm32"))]
-    if testfile
-        .features
-        .contains(&Feature::With("experimental_arm32"))
-    {
-        println!("skipped {:?}: no experimental_arm32 feature", path);
+    if let Some(msg) = skip_feature_mismatches(&testfile) {
+        println!("skipped {:?}: {}", path, msg);
         return Ok(started.elapsed());
     }
 
diff --git a/cranelift/reader/Cargo.toml b/cranelift/reader/Cargo.toml
index 02131d890f..2b75bb32b9 100644
--- a/cranelift/reader/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cranelift/reader/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,3 +17,7 @@ thiserror = "1.0.15"
 
 [badges]
 maintenance = { status = "experimental" }
+
+[features]
+default = []
+experimental_x64 = []
diff --git a/cranelift/reader/src/parser.rs b/cranelift/reader/src/parser.rs
index 230d1b83d3..3d6f3da1e5 100644
--- a/cranelift/reader/src/parser.rs
+++ b/cranelift/reader/src/parser.rs
@@ -90,6 +90,33 @@ pub fn parse_test<'a>(text: &'a str, options: ParseOptions<'a>) -> ParseResult<T
     };
     let features = parser.parse_cranelift_features()?;
 
+    #[cfg(feature = "experimental_x64")]
+    {
+        // If the test mentioned that it must run on x86_64, and the experimental_x64 feature is
+        // not present, we might run into parsing errors, because some TargetIsa information is
+        // left unimplemented in the new backend (e.g. register names).
+        //
+        // Users of this function must do some special treatment when the test requires to run on
+        // x86_64 without the experimental_x64 feature, until we switch to using the new x64
+        // backend by default.
+        //
+        // In the meanwhile, return a minimal TestFile containing the features/isa_spec, so the
+        // caller can ignore this.
+        if let isaspec::IsaSpec::Some(ref isas) = isa_spec {
+            if isas.iter().any(|isa| isa.name() == "x64")
+                && !features.contains(&Feature::With("experimental_x64"))
+            {
+                return Ok(TestFile {
+                    commands,
+                    isa_spec,
+                    features,
+                    preamble_comments: Vec::new(),
+                    functions: Vec::new(),
+                });
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     // Decide between using the calling convention passed in the options or using the
     // host's calling convention--if any tests are to be run on the host we should default to the
     // host's calling convention.
diff --git a/cranelift/tests/filetests.rs b/cranelift/tests/filetests.rs
index edf6513ccf..a633461109 100644
--- a/cranelift/tests/filetests.rs
+++ b/cranelift/tests/filetests.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 #[test]
-#[cfg_attr(feature = "experimental_x64", should_panic)] // TODO #2079
 fn filetests() {
     // Run all the filetests in the following directories.
     cranelift_filetests::run(false, false, &["filetests".into(), "docs".into()])