diff --git a/mlir/examples/standalone/standalone-translate/standalone-translate.cpp b/mlir/examples/standalone/standalone-translate/standalone-translate.cpp
--- a/mlir/examples/standalone/standalone-translate/standalone-translate.cpp
+++ b/mlir/examples/standalone/standalone-translate/standalone-translate.cpp
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
 #include "Standalone/StandaloneDialect.h"
-#include "mlir/IR/BuiltinOps.h"
 #include "mlir/InitAllTranslations.h"
 #include "mlir/Support/LogicalResult.h"
 #include "mlir/Tools/mlir-translate/MlirTranslateMain.h"
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@
   // TODO: Register standalone translations here.
   mlir::TranslateFromMLIRRegistration withdescription(
       "option", "different from option",
-      [](mlir::ModuleOp op, llvm::raw_ostream &output) {
+      [](mlir::Operation *op, llvm::raw_ostream &output) {
         return mlir::LogicalResult::success();
       },
       [](mlir::DialectRegistry &a) {});
diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Tools/mlir-translate/Translation.h b/mlir/include/mlir/Tools/mlir-translate/Translation.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Tools/mlir-translate/Translation.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Tools/mlir-translate/Translation.h
@@ -25,28 +25,28 @@
 class DialectRegistry;
 struct LogicalResult;
 class MLIRContext;
-class ModuleOp;
+class Operation;
 template <typename OpTy>
 class OwningOpRef;
 
 /// Interface of the function that translates the sources managed by `sourceMgr`
 /// to MLIR. The source manager has at least one buffer. The implementation
-/// should create a new MLIR ModuleOp in the given context and return a pointer
-/// to it, or a nullptr in case of any error.
-using TranslateSourceMgrToMLIRFunction = std::function<OwningOpRef<ModuleOp>(
+/// should create a new MLIR Operation in the given context and return a
+/// pointer to it, or a nullptr in case of any error.
+using TranslateSourceMgrToMLIRFunction = std::function<OwningOpRef<Operation *>(
     llvm::SourceMgr &sourceMgr, MLIRContext *)>;
 
 /// Interface of the function that translates the given string to MLIR. The
-/// implementation should create a new MLIR ModuleOp in the given context. If
+/// implementation should create a new MLIR Operation in the given context. If
 /// source-related error reporting is required from within the function, use
 /// TranslateSourceMgrToMLIRFunction instead.
 using TranslateStringRefToMLIRFunction =
-    std::function<OwningOpRef<ModuleOp>(llvm::StringRef, MLIRContext *)>;
+    std::function<OwningOpRef<Operation *>(llvm::StringRef, MLIRContext *)>;
 
 /// Interface of the function that translates MLIR to a different format and
-/// outputs the result to a stream. It is allowed to modify the module.
+/// outputs the result to a stream. It is allowed to modify the operation.
 using TranslateFromMLIRFunction =
-    std::function<LogicalResult(ModuleOp, llvm::raw_ostream &output)>;
+    std::function<LogicalResult(Operation *, llvm::raw_ostream &output)>;
 
 /// Interface of the function that performs file-to-file translation involving
 /// MLIR. The input file is held in the given MemoryBuffer; the output file
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Target/Cpp/TranslateRegistration.cpp b/mlir/lib/Target/Cpp/TranslateRegistration.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Target/Cpp/TranslateRegistration.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Target/Cpp/TranslateRegistration.cpp
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@
 
   TranslateFromMLIRRegistration reg(
       "mlir-to-cpp", "translate from mlir to cpp",
-      [](ModuleOp module, raw_ostream &output) {
+      [](Operation *op, raw_ostream &output) {
         return emitc::translateToCpp(
-            module, output,
+            op, output,
             /*declareVariablesAtTop=*/declareVariablesAtTop);
       },
       [](DialectRegistry &registry) {
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ConvertFromLLVMIR.cpp b/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ConvertFromLLVMIR.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ConvertFromLLVMIR.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ConvertFromLLVMIR.cpp
@@ -1347,8 +1347,8 @@
 
 // Deserializes the LLVM bitcode stored in `input` into an MLIR module in the
 // LLVM dialect.
-OwningOpRef<ModuleOp> translateLLVMIRToModule(llvm::SourceMgr &sourceMgr,
-                                              MLIRContext *context) {
+static OwningOpRef<Operation *>
+translateLLVMIRToModule(llvm::SourceMgr &sourceMgr, MLIRContext *context) {
   llvm::SMDiagnostic err;
   llvm::LLVMContext llvmContext;
   std::unique_ptr<llvm::Module> llvmModule = llvm::parseIR(
@@ -1360,7 +1360,9 @@
     emitError(UnknownLoc::get(context)) << errStream.str();
     return {};
   }
-  return translateLLVMIRToModule(std::move(llvmModule), context);
+  OwningOpRef<ModuleOp> module =
+      translateLLVMIRToModule(std::move(llvmModule), context);
+  return module.release().getOperation();
 }
 
 namespace mlir {
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ConvertToLLVMIR.cpp b/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ConvertToLLVMIR.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ConvertToLLVMIR.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ConvertToLLVMIR.cpp
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@
 void registerToLLVMIRTranslation() {
   TranslateFromMLIRRegistration registration(
       "mlir-to-llvmir", "translate mlir to llvmir",
-      [](ModuleOp module, raw_ostream &output) {
+      [](Operation *op, raw_ostream &output) {
         llvm::LLVMContext llvmContext;
-        auto llvmModule = translateModuleToLLVMIR(module, llvmContext);
+        auto llvmModule = translateModuleToLLVMIR(op, llvmContext);
         if (!llvmModule)
           return failure();
 
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleTranslation.cpp b/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleTranslation.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleTranslation.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleTranslation.cpp
@@ -1182,8 +1182,10 @@
 std::unique_ptr<llvm::Module>
 mlir::translateModuleToLLVMIR(Operation *module, llvm::LLVMContext &llvmContext,
                               StringRef name) {
-  if (!satisfiesLLVMModule(module))
+  if (!satisfiesLLVMModule(module)) {
+    module->emitOpError("can not be translated to an LLVMIR module");
     return nullptr;
+  }
 
   std::unique_ptr<llvm::Module> llvmModule =
       prepareLLVMModule(module, llvmContext, name);
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Target/SPIRV/TranslateRegistration.cpp b/mlir/lib/Target/SPIRV/TranslateRegistration.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Target/SPIRV/TranslateRegistration.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Target/SPIRV/TranslateRegistration.cpp
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@
 
 // Deserializes the SPIR-V binary module stored in the file named as
 // `inputFilename` and returns a module containing the SPIR-V module.
-static OwningOpRef<ModuleOp> deserializeModule(const llvm::MemoryBuffer *input,
-                                               MLIRContext *context) {
+static OwningOpRef<Operation *>
+deserializeModule(const llvm::MemoryBuffer *input, MLIRContext *context) {
   context->loadDialect<spirv::SPIRVDialect>();
 
   // Make sure the input stream can be treated as a stream of SPIR-V words
@@ -57,11 +57,11 @@
   if (!spirvModule)
     return {};
 
-  OwningOpRef<ModuleOp> module(ModuleOp::create(FileLineColLoc::get(
-      context, input->getBufferIdentifier(), /*line=*/0, /*column=*/0)));
-  module->getBody()->push_front(spirvModule.release());
+  auto module = ModuleOp::create(FileLineColLoc::get(
+      context, input->getBufferIdentifier(), /*line=*/0, /*column=*/0));
+  module.getBody()->push_front(spirvModule.release());
 
-  return module;
+  return module.getOperation();
 }
 
 namespace mlir {
@@ -80,20 +80,20 @@
 // Serialization registration
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
-static LogicalResult serializeModule(ModuleOp module, raw_ostream &output) {
-  if (!module)
+static LogicalResult serializeModule(Operation *op, raw_ostream &output) {
+  if (!op)
     return failure();
 
   SmallVector<uint32_t, 0> binary;
 
   SmallVector<spirv::ModuleOp, 1> spirvModules;
-  module.walk([&](spirv::ModuleOp op) { spirvModules.push_back(op); });
+  op->walk([&](spirv::ModuleOp op) { spirvModules.push_back(op); });
 
   if (spirvModules.empty())
-    return module.emitError("found no 'spirv.module' op");
+    return op->emitError("found no 'spv.module' op");
 
   if (spirvModules.size() != 1)
-    return module.emitError("found more than one 'spirv.module' op");
+    return op->emitError("found more than one 'spv.module' op");
 
   if (failed(spirv::serialize(spirvModules[0], binary)))
     return failure();
@@ -108,8 +108,8 @@
 void registerToSPIRVTranslation() {
   TranslateFromMLIRRegistration toBinary(
       "serialize-spirv", "serialize SPIR-V dialect",
-      [](ModuleOp module, raw_ostream &output) {
-        return serializeModule(module, output);
+      [](Operation *op, raw_ostream &output) {
+        return serializeModule(op, output);
       },
       [](DialectRegistry &registry) {
         registry.insert<spirv::SPIRVDialect>();
@@ -121,17 +121,18 @@
 // Round-trip registration
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
-static LogicalResult roundTripModule(ModuleOp srcModule, bool emitDebugInfo,
+static LogicalResult roundTripModule(Operation *src, bool emitDebugInfo,
                                      raw_ostream &output) {
   SmallVector<uint32_t, 0> binary;
-  MLIRContext *context = srcModule.getContext();
-  auto spirvModules = srcModule.getOps<spirv::ModuleOp>();
+  MLIRContext *context = src->getContext();
+  SmallVector<spirv::ModuleOp, 1> spirvModules;
+  src->walk([&](spirv::ModuleOp op) { spirvModules.push_back(op); });
 
-  if (spirvModules.begin() == spirvModules.end())
-    return srcModule.emitError("found no 'spirv.module' op");
+  if (spirvModules.empty())
+    return src->emitError("found no 'spv.module' op");
 
-  if (std::next(spirvModules.begin()) != spirvModules.end())
-    return srcModule.emitError("found more than one 'spirv.module' op");
+  if (spirvModules.size() > 1)
+    return src->emitError("found more than one 'spv.module' op");
 
   spirv::SerializationOptions options;
   options.emitDebugInfo = emitDebugInfo;
@@ -163,8 +164,8 @@
 void registerTestRoundtripSPIRV() {
   TranslateFromMLIRRegistration roundtrip(
       "test-spirv-roundtrip", "test roundtrip in SPIR-V dialect",
-      [](ModuleOp module, raw_ostream &output) {
-        return roundTripModule(module, /*emitDebugInfo=*/false, output);
+      [](Operation *op, raw_ostream &output) {
+        return roundTripModule(op, /*emitDebugInfo=*/false, output);
       },
       [](DialectRegistry &registry) {
         registry.insert<spirv::SPIRVDialect>();
@@ -174,8 +175,8 @@
 void registerTestRoundtripDebugSPIRV() {
   TranslateFromMLIRRegistration roundtrip(
       "test-spirv-roundtrip-debug", "test roundtrip debug in SPIR-V",
-      [](ModuleOp module, raw_ostream &output) {
-        return roundTripModule(module, /*emitDebugInfo=*/true, output);
+      [](Operation *op, raw_ostream &output) {
+        return roundTripModule(op, /*emitDebugInfo=*/true, output);
       },
       [](DialectRegistry &registry) {
         registry.insert<spirv::SPIRVDialect>();
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Tools/mlir-translate/Translation.cpp b/mlir/lib/Tools/mlir-translate/Translation.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Tools/mlir-translate/Translation.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Tools/mlir-translate/Translation.cpp
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include "mlir/IR/Dialect.h"
 #include "mlir/IR/Verifier.h"
 #include "mlir/Parser/Parser.h"
+#include "mlir/Tools/ParseUtilties.h"
 #include "llvm/Support/SourceMgr.h"
 
 using namespace mlir;
@@ -65,10 +66,10 @@
     const TranslateSourceMgrToMLIRFunction &function) {
   auto wrappedFn = [function](llvm::SourceMgr &sourceMgr, raw_ostream &output,
                               MLIRContext *context) {
-    OwningOpRef<ModuleOp> module = function(sourceMgr, context);
-    if (!module || failed(verify(*module)))
+    OwningOpRef<Operation *> op = function(sourceMgr, context);
+    if (!op || failed(verify(*op)))
       return failure();
-    module->print(output);
+    op.get()->print(output);
     return success();
   };
   registerTranslation(name, description, wrappedFn);
@@ -101,6 +102,12 @@
     StringRef name, StringRef description,
     const TranslateFromMLIRFunction &function,
     const std::function<void(DialectRegistry &)> &dialectRegistration) {
+
+  static llvm::cl::opt<bool> noImplicitModule{
+      "no-implicit-module",
+      llvm::cl::desc("Disable the parsing of an implicit top-level module op"),
+      llvm::cl::init(false)};
+
   registerTranslation(name, description,
                       [function, dialectRegistration](
                           llvm::SourceMgr &sourceMgr, raw_ostream &output,
@@ -108,11 +115,11 @@
                         DialectRegistry registry;
                         dialectRegistration(registry);
                         context->appendDialectRegistry(registry);
-                        auto module =
-                            parseSourceFile<ModuleOp>(sourceMgr, context);
-                        if (!module || failed(verify(*module)))
+                        OwningOpRef<Operation *> op = parseSourceFileForTool(
+                            sourceMgr, context, !noImplicitModule);
+                        if (!op || failed(verify(*op)))
                           return failure();
-                        return function(module.get(), output);
+                        return function(op.get(), output);
                       });
 }
 
diff --git a/mlir/test/Target/LLVMIR/invalid-module.mlir b/mlir/test/Target/LLVMIR/invalid-module.mlir
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/test/Target/LLVMIR/invalid-module.mlir
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+// RUN: mlir-translate -verify-diagnostics -mlir-to-llvmir --no-implicit-module %s
+
+// expected-error@below {{'llvm.func' op can not be translated to an LLVMIR module}}
+llvm.func @foo() {
+  llvm.return
+}
diff --git a/mlir/test/Target/SPIRV/module.mlir b/mlir/test/Target/SPIRV/module.mlir
--- a/mlir/test/Target/SPIRV/module.mlir
+++ b/mlir/test/Target/SPIRV/module.mlir
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// RUN: mlir-translate -test-spirv-roundtrip -split-input-file %s | FileCheck %s
+// RUN: mlir-translate -test-spirv-roundtrip --no-implicit-module -split-input-file %s | FileCheck %s
 
 // CHECK:      spirv.module Logical GLSL450 requires #spirv.vce<v1.0, [Shader], []> {
 // CHECK-NEXT:   spirv.func @foo() "Inline" {