diff --git a/src/cmd/dist/test.go b/src/cmd/dist/test.go
index d0e634640c..4cc181f610 100755
--- a/src/cmd/dist/test.go
+++ b/src/cmd/dist/test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
@@ -274,6 +275,39 @@ func (t *tester) registerStdTest(pkg string) {
 	})
 }
 
+// TODO: Remove when SSA codegen is used by default.
+func (t *tester) registerSSATest(pkg string) {
+	switch pkg {
+	// known failures due to GOGC=off
+	case "runtime", "runtime/pprof", "runtime/trace", "sync":
+		return
+	// TODO: fix these failures
+	case "math/big", "cmd/compile/internal/big":
+		return
+	}
+	t.tests = append(t.tests, distTest{
+		name:    "go_test_ssa:" + pkg,
+		heading: "Testing packages with SSA codegen.",
+		fn: func() error {
+			args := []string{
+				"test",
+				"-short",
+				t.timeout(180 * 3), // SSA generates slower code right now
+				"-gcflags=" + os.Getenv("GO_GCFLAGS"),
+			}
+			if t.race {
+				args = append(args, "-race")
+			}
+			args = append(args, pkg)
+			cmd := exec.Command("go", args...)
+			cmd.Env = mergeEnvLists([]string{"GOSSAPKG=" + path.Base(pkg), "GOGC=off"}, os.Environ())
+			cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
+			cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+			return cmd.Run()
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func (t *tester) registerRaceBenchTest(pkg string) {
 	testName := "go_test_bench:" + pkg
 	if t.runRx == nil || t.runRx.MatchString(testName) {
@@ -317,6 +351,9 @@ func (t *tester) registerTests() {
 			if strings.HasPrefix(name, "go_test_bench:") {
 				t.registerRaceBenchTest(strings.TrimPrefix(name, "go_test_bench:"))
 			}
+			if t.goarch == "amd64" && strings.HasPrefix(name, "go_test_ssa:") {
+				t.registerSSATest(strings.TrimPrefix(name, "go_test_ssa:"))
+			}
 		}
 	} else {
 		// Use a format string to only list packages and commands that have tests.
@@ -333,6 +370,11 @@ func (t *tester) registerTests() {
 		for _, pkg := range pkgs {
 			t.registerStdTest(pkg)
 		}
+		if t.goarch == "amd64" {
+			for _, pkg := range pkgs {
+				t.registerSSATest(pkg)
+			}
+		}
 		if t.race {
 			for _, pkg := range pkgs {
 				t.registerRaceBenchTest(pkg)