diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Tools/mlir-opt/MlirOptMain.h b/mlir/include/mlir/Tools/mlir-opt/MlirOptMain.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Tools/mlir-opt/MlirOptMain.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Tools/mlir-opt/MlirOptMain.h
@@ -53,12 +53,15 @@
 /// - emitBytecode will generate bytecode output instead of text.
 /// - implicitModule will enable implicit addition of a top-level
 /// 'builtin.module' if one doesn't already exist.
-LogicalResult MlirOptMain(
-    llvm::raw_ostream &outputStream, std::unique_ptr<llvm::MemoryBuffer> buffer,
-    const PassPipelineCLParser &passPipeline, DialectRegistry &registry,
-    bool splitInputFile, bool verifyDiagnostics, bool verifyPasses,
-    bool allowUnregisteredDialects, bool preloadDialectsInContext = false,
-    bool emitBytecode = false, bool implicitModule = false);
+/// - passManager is used to initialize the pass manager that will be applied
+LogicalResult
+MlirOptMain(llvm::raw_ostream &outputStream,
+            std::unique_ptr<llvm::MemoryBuffer> buffer,
+            const PassPipelineCLParser &passPipeline, DialectRegistry &registry,
+            bool splitInputFile, bool verifyDiagnostics, bool verifyPasses,
+            bool allowUnregisteredDialects,
+            bool preloadDialectsInContext = false, bool emitBytecode = false,
+            bool implicitModule = false, StringRef passManager = "");
 
 /// Support a callback to setup the pass manager.
 /// - passManagerSetupFn is the callback invoked to setup the pass manager to
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Pass/Pass.cpp b/mlir/lib/Pass/Pass.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Pass/Pass.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Pass/Pass.cpp
@@ -773,9 +773,11 @@
 /// Run the passes within this manager on the provided operation.
 LogicalResult PassManager::run(Operation *op) {
   MLIRContext *context = getContext();
-  assert(op->getName() == getOpName(*context) &&
-         "operation has a different name than the PassManager or is from a "
-         "different context");
+  if (auto anchorOp = getOpName(*context);
+      anchorOp && anchorOp != op->getName())
+    return emitError(op->getLoc())
+           << "can't run '" << getOpAnchorName() << "' pass manager on '"
+           << op->getName() << "' op";
 
   // Register all dialects for the current pipeline.
   DialectRegistry dependentDialects;
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Pass/PassRegistry.cpp b/mlir/lib/Pass/PassRegistry.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Pass/PassRegistry.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Pass/PassRegistry.cpp
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@
   if (pipelineStart == 0 || pipelineStart == StringRef::npos ||
       !pipeline.consume_back(")")) {
     errorStream << "expected pass pipeline to be wrapped with the anchor "
-                   "operation type, e.g. `builtin.module(...)";
+                   "operation type, e.g. `builtin.module(...)`\n";
     return failure();
   }
 
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Tools/mlir-opt/MlirOptMain.cpp b/mlir/lib/Tools/mlir-opt/MlirOptMain.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Tools/mlir-opt/MlirOptMain.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Tools/mlir-opt/MlirOptMain.cpp
@@ -187,19 +187,28 @@
                                splitInputFile, /*insertMarkerInOutput=*/true);
 }
 
-LogicalResult mlir::MlirOptMain(raw_ostream &outputStream,
-                                std::unique_ptr<MemoryBuffer> buffer,
-                                const PassPipelineCLParser &passPipeline,
-                                DialectRegistry &registry, bool splitInputFile,
-                                bool verifyDiagnostics, bool verifyPasses,
-                                bool allowUnregisteredDialects,
-                                bool preloadDialectsInContext,
-                                bool emitBytecode, bool implicitModule) {
+LogicalResult mlir::MlirOptMain(
+    raw_ostream &outputStream, std::unique_ptr<MemoryBuffer> buffer,
+    const PassPipelineCLParser &passPipeline, DialectRegistry &registry,
+    bool splitInputFile, bool verifyDiagnostics, bool verifyPasses,
+    bool allowUnregisteredDialects, bool preloadDialectsInContext,
+    bool emitBytecode, bool implicitModule, StringRef passManager) {
   auto passManagerSetupFn = [&](PassManager &pm) {
     auto errorHandler = [&](const Twine &msg) {
       emitError(UnknownLoc::get(pm.getContext())) << msg;
       return failure();
     };
+
+    if (!passManager.empty()) {
+      FailureOr<OpPassManager> newPm =
+          parsePassPipeline(passManager, llvm::errs());
+      if (failed(newPm))
+        return failure();
+      if (!pm.empty())
+        return errorHandler(
+            "'-pass-manager' option is overriding existing pipeline");
+      static_cast<OpPassManager &>(pm) = std::move(*newPm);
+    }
     return passPipeline.addToPipeline(pm, errorHandler);
   };
   return MlirOptMain(outputStream, std::move(buffer), passManagerSetupFn,
@@ -253,6 +262,10 @@
           "Disable implicit addition of a top-level module op during parsing"),
       cl::init(false)};
 
+  static cl::opt<std::string> passManager(
+      "pass-manager",
+      cl::desc("Pass manager to run (format: `anchor-op(pipeline)`)"));
+
   InitLLVM y(argc, argv);
 
   // Register any command line options.
@@ -298,7 +311,8 @@
   if (failed(MlirOptMain(output->os(), std::move(file), passPipeline, registry,
                          splitInputFile, verifyDiagnostics, verifyPasses,
                          allowUnregisteredDialects, preloadDialectsInContext,
-                         emitBytecode, /*implicitModule=*/!noImplicitModule)))
+                         emitBytecode, /*implicitModule=*/!noImplicitModule,
+                         passManager)))
     return failure();
 
   // Keep the output file if the invocation of MlirOptMain was successful.
diff --git a/mlir/test/mlir-opt/pass-manager.mlir b/mlir/test/mlir-opt/pass-manager.mlir
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/test/mlir-opt/pass-manager.mlir
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+//    RUN: mlir-opt %s -cse -test-dump-pipeline 2>&1 | FileCheck %s -check-prefix=CHECK0
+// CHECK0: builtin.module(cse)
+
+// Roundtrip:
+//    RUN: mlir-opt %s -pass-manager='any(cse)' -test-dump-pipeline 2>&1 | FileCheck %s -check-prefix=CHECK1
+// CHECK1: any(cse)
+
+// Additional pass options get appended:
+//    RUN: mlir-opt %s -pass-manager='any()' -cse -cse -test-dump-pipeline 2>&1 | FileCheck %s -check-prefix=CHECK2
+// CHECK2: any(cse,cse)
+
+// RUN: mlir-opt %s -pass-manager='wrong-op()' --verify-diagnostics
+// expected-error@below {{can't run 'wrong-op' pass manager on 'builtin.module' op}}
+module {}