diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9e22476c1..40ed6c081 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,20 +13,34 @@ if(POLICY CMP0077)
   cmake_policy(SET CMP0077 NEW)
 endif()
 
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Project setup and globals
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 project(npcomp LANGUAGES CXX C)
+set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 11)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
+
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Options and settings
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+option(NPCOMP_ENABLE_IREE "Enables the IREE backend (must configure location via IREE_DIR)." OFF)
+set(NPCOMP_IREE_SRCDIR "" CACHE STRING "If building IREE, then setting this elects to build from a source directory (versus installed package)")
+
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# MLIR/LLVM Configuration
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 find_package(MLIR REQUIRED CONFIG)
-
 message(STATUS "Using MLIRConfig.cmake in: ${MLIR_DIR}")
 message(STATUS "Using LLVMConfig.cmake in: ${LLVM_DIR}")
-
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${MLIR_CMAKE_DIR}")
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${LLVM_CMAKE_DIR}")
 include(TableGen)
 include(AddLLVM)
 include(AddMLIR)
 include(HandleLLVMOptions)
-
 include_directories(${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 include_directories(${MLIR_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
@@ -34,8 +48,26 @@ include_directories(${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/include)
 link_directories(${LLVM_BUILD_LIBRARY_DIR})
 add_definitions(${LLVM_DEFINITIONS})
 
-set(MLIR_NPCOMP_SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
-set(MLIR_NPCOMP_BINARY_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# IREE configuration
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+if(${NPCOMP_ENABLE_IREE})
+  add_compile_definitions(NPCOMP_ENABLE_IREE)
+  if(NPCOMP_IREE_SRCDIR)
+    message(STATUS "Depending on IREE source: ${NPCOMP_IREE_SRCDIR}")
+    set(IREE_BUILD_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Override IREE setting")
+    set(IREE_BUILD_SAMPLES OFF CACHE BOOL "Override IREE setting")
+    set(IREE_MLIR_DEP_MODE "DISABLED" CACHE STRING "Override IREE setting")
+    add_subdirectory("${NPCOMP_IREE_SRCDIR}" "iree" EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+  else()
+    find_package(IREE REQUIRED CONFIG)
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Python Configuration
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 # TODO(laurenzo): Rationalize with how this is done elsewhere
 find_package(PythonInterp REQUIRED)
@@ -45,6 +77,13 @@ message(STATUS "Found ppython libraries: ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES}")
 find_package(pybind11 CONFIG REQUIRED)
 message(STATUS "Found pybind11 v${pybind11_VERSION}: ${pybind11_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
 
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Directory setup
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+set(MLIR_NPCOMP_SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
+set(MLIR_NPCOMP_BINARY_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
+
 add_custom_target(check-npcomp)
 
 add_subdirectory(include/npcomp)
diff --git a/tools/cmake_configure_iree.sh b/tools/cmake_configure_iree.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..9c1192ee3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cmake_configure_iree.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Experimental configure script that includes IREE.
+set -e
+
+td="$(realpath $(dirname $0))"
+iree_dir="$(realpath "$td/../../iree")"
+if ! [ -d "$iree_dir" ]; then
+  echo "Could not find IREE src dir: $iree_dir"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+"$td/cmake_configure.sh" \
+  -DNPCOMP_ENABLE_IREE=1 \
+  "-DNPCOMP_IREE_SRCDIR=$iree_dir" \
+  "$@"