diff --git a/config.example.toml b/config.example.toml
index c1939933850c4..4fbdccba91104 100644
--- a/config.example.toml
+++ b/config.example.toml
@@ -842,6 +842,17 @@
 # See that option for more info.
 #codegen-backends = rust.codegen-backends (array)
 
+# This is a "runner" to pass to `compiletest` when executing tests. Tests will
+# execute this tool where the binary-to-test is passed as an argument. Can
+# be useful for situations such as when WebAssembly is being tested and a
+# runtime needs to be configured. This value is similar to
+# Cargo's `CARGO_$target_RUNNER` configuration.
+#
+# This configuration is a space-separated list of arguments so `foo bar` would
+# execute the program `foo` with the first argument as `bar` and the second
+# argument as the test binary.
+#runner = <none> (string)
+
 # =============================================================================
 # Distribution options
 #
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/test.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/test.rs
index 58bc379136978..248d831b6e30e 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/test.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/test.rs
@@ -1971,6 +1971,8 @@ NOTE: if you're sure you want to do this, please open an issue as to why. In the
 
         if builder.remote_tested(target) {
             cmd.arg("--remote-test-client").arg(builder.tool_exe(Tool::RemoteTestClient));
+        } else if let Some(tool) = builder.runner(target) {
+            cmd.arg("--runner").arg(tool);
         }
 
         if suite != "mir-opt" {
@@ -2523,6 +2525,8 @@ fn prepare_cargo_test(
             format!("CARGO_TARGET_{}_RUNNER", envify(&target.triple)),
             format!("{} run 0", builder.tool_exe(Tool::RemoteTestClient).display()),
         );
+    } else if let Some(tool) = builder.runner(target) {
+        cargo.env(format!("CARGO_TARGET_{}_RUNNER", envify(&target.triple)), tool);
     }
 
     cargo
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/core/config/config.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/core/config/config.rs
index 4766f9d426c30..683e0a4302f94 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/core/config/config.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/core/config/config.rs
@@ -581,6 +581,7 @@ pub struct Target {
     pub musl_libdir: Option<PathBuf>,
     pub wasi_root: Option<PathBuf>,
     pub qemu_rootfs: Option<PathBuf>,
+    pub runner: Option<String>,
     pub no_std: bool,
     pub codegen_backends: Option<Vec<String>>,
 }
@@ -1144,6 +1145,7 @@ define_config! {
         qemu_rootfs: Option<String> = "qemu-rootfs",
         no_std: Option<bool> = "no-std",
         codegen_backends: Option<Vec<String>> = "codegen-backends",
+        runner: Option<String> = "runner",
     }
 }
 
@@ -1864,6 +1866,7 @@ impl Config {
                 target.musl_libdir = cfg.musl_libdir.map(PathBuf::from);
                 target.wasi_root = cfg.wasi_root.map(PathBuf::from);
                 target.qemu_rootfs = cfg.qemu_rootfs.map(PathBuf::from);
+                target.runner = cfg.runner;
                 target.sanitizers = cfg.sanitizers;
                 target.profiler = cfg.profiler;
                 target.rpath = cfg.rpath;
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs
index 10c13fecbf367..938b95cc60e4b 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs
@@ -1354,6 +1354,17 @@ impl Build {
             || env::var_os("TEST_DEVICE_ADDR").is_some()
     }
 
+    /// Returns an optional "runner" to pass to `compiletest` when executing
+    /// test binaries.
+    ///
+    /// An example of this would be a WebAssembly runtime when testing the wasm
+    /// targets.
+    fn runner(&self, target: TargetSelection) -> Option<String> {
+        let target = self.config.target_config.get(&target)?;
+        let runner = target.runner.as_ref()?;
+        Some(runner.to_owned())
+    }
+
     /// Returns the root of the "rootfs" image that this target will be using,
     /// if one was configured.
     ///
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/utils/change_tracker.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/utils/change_tracker.rs
index d166b84e51fc5..a348fa3584147 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/utils/change_tracker.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/utils/change_tracker.rs
@@ -141,4 +141,9 @@ pub const CONFIG_CHANGE_HISTORY: &[ChangeInfo] = &[
         severity: ChangeSeverity::Info,
         summary: "A new `boostrap-cache-path` option has been introduced which can be utilized to modify the cache path for bootstrap.",
     },
+    ChangeInfo {
+        change_id: 122108,
+        severity: ChangeSeverity::Info,
+        summary: "a new `target.*.runner` option is available to specify a wrapper executable required to run tests for a target",
+    },
 ];
diff --git a/src/tools/compiletest/src/common.rs b/src/tools/compiletest/src/common.rs
index 06d8f099c33fa..78246136f2a1b 100644
--- a/src/tools/compiletest/src/common.rs
+++ b/src/tools/compiletest/src/common.rs
@@ -266,8 +266,10 @@ pub struct Config {
     pub logfile: Option<PathBuf>,
 
     /// A command line to prefix program execution with,
-    /// for running under valgrind
-    pub runtool: Option<String>,
+    /// for running under valgrind for example.
+    ///
+    /// Similar to `CARGO_*_RUNNER` configuration.
+    pub runner: Option<String>,
 
     /// Flags to pass to the compiler when building for the host
     pub host_rustcflags: Vec<String>,
diff --git a/src/tools/compiletest/src/lib.rs b/src/tools/compiletest/src/lib.rs
index b32a5a4bf1a4a..ef02e7fcb4abb 100644
--- a/src/tools/compiletest/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/tools/compiletest/src/lib.rs
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ pub fn parse_config(args: Vec<String>) -> Config {
         .optflag("", "exact", "filters match exactly")
         .optopt(
             "",
-            "runtool",
+            "runner",
             "supervisor program to run tests under \
              (eg. emulator, valgrind)",
             "PROGRAM",
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ pub fn parse_config(args: Vec<String>) -> Config {
             _ => panic!("unknown `--run` option `{}` given", mode),
         }),
         logfile: matches.opt_str("logfile").map(|s| PathBuf::from(&s)),
-        runtool: matches.opt_str("runtool"),
+        runner: matches.opt_str("runner"),
         host_rustcflags: matches.opt_strs("host-rustcflags"),
         target_rustcflags: matches.opt_strs("target-rustcflags"),
         optimize_tests: matches.opt_present("optimize-tests"),
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ pub fn log_config(config: &Config) {
         c,
         format!("force_pass_mode: {}", opt_str(&config.force_pass_mode.map(|m| format!("{}", m))),),
     );
-    logv(c, format!("runtool: {}", opt_str(&config.runtool)));
+    logv(c, format!("runner: {}", opt_str(&config.runner)));
     logv(c, format!("host-rustcflags: {:?}", config.host_rustcflags));
     logv(c, format!("target-rustcflags: {:?}", config.target_rustcflags));
     logv(c, format!("target: {}", config.target));
diff --git a/src/tools/compiletest/src/runtest.rs b/src/tools/compiletest/src/runtest.rs
index ae0db88d873be..9fd83c507edde 100644
--- a/src/tools/compiletest/src/runtest.rs
+++ b/src/tools/compiletest/src/runtest.rs
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ impl<'test> TestCx<'test> {
         }
 
         let mut new_config = self.config.clone();
-        new_config.runtool = new_config.valgrind_path.clone();
+        new_config.runner = new_config.valgrind_path.clone();
         let new_cx = TestCx { config: &new_config, ..*self };
         proc_res = new_cx.exec_compiled_test();
 
@@ -2647,7 +2647,7 @@ impl<'test> TestCx<'test> {
     fn make_run_args(&self) -> ProcArgs {
         // If we've got another tool to run under (valgrind),
         // then split apart its command
-        let mut args = self.split_maybe_args(&self.config.runtool);
+        let mut args = self.split_maybe_args(&self.config.runner);
 
         // If this is emscripten, then run tests under nodejs
         if self.config.target.contains("emscripten") {