diff --git a/src/common.rs b/src/common.rs
index d362fbd..d1b8e68 100644
--- a/src/common.rs
+++ b/src/common.rs
@@ -239,6 +239,9 @@ pub struct Config {
     /// as a header.
     pub strict_headers: bool,
 
+    /// Expected exit code for compile tests. Defaults to expecting `1` if unset.
+    pub compile_test_exit_code: Option<i32>,
+
     // Configuration for various run-make tests frobbing things like C compilers
     // or querying about various LLVM component information.
     pub cc: String,
@@ -464,6 +467,7 @@ impl Default for Config {
             quiet: false,
             color: ColorConfig::AutoColor,
             remote_test_client: None,
+            compile_test_exit_code: None,
             cc: "cc".to_string(),
             cxx: "cxx".to_string(),
             cflags: "cflags".to_string(),
diff --git a/src/runtest.rs b/src/runtest.rs
index 2eeca4f..775166c 100644
--- a/src/runtest.rs
+++ b/src/runtest.rs
@@ -229,9 +229,12 @@ impl<'test> TestCx<'test> {
     }
 
     fn check_correct_failure_status(&self, proc_res: &ProcRes) {
-        // The value the rust runtime returns on failure
-        const RUST_ERR: i32 = 1;
-        if proc_res.status.code() != Some(RUST_ERR) {
+        // The value the rust runtime returns on normal compile failure
+        const DEFAULT_RUST_ERR: i32 = 1;
+
+        let expected = self.config.compile_test_exit_code.unwrap_or(DEFAULT_RUST_ERR);
+
+        if proc_res.status.code() != Some(expected) {
             self.fatal_proc_rec(
                 &format!("failure produced the wrong error: {}", proc_res.status),
                 proc_res,