diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.td b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.td
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.td
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.td
@@ -48,6 +48,19 @@
           "::mlir::transform::TransformResults &":$transformResults,
           "::mlir::transform::TransformState &":$state
     )>,
+    InterfaceMethod<
+      /*desc=*/[{
+        Indicates whether the op instance allows its handle operands to be
+        associated with the same payload operations.
+      }],
+      /*returnType=*/"bool",
+      /*name=*/"allowsRepeatedHandleOperands",
+      /*arguments=*/(ins),
+      /*methodBody=*/"",
+      /*defaultImplementation=*/[{
+        return false;
+      }]
+    >,
   ];
 
   let extraSharedClassDeclaration = [{
diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.td b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.td
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.td
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.td
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@
 }
 
 def MergeHandlesOp : TransformDialectOp<"merge_handles",
-    [DeclareOpInterfaceMethods<TransformOpInterface>,
+    [DeclareOpInterfaceMethods<TransformOpInterface, ["allowsRepeatedHandleOperands"]>,
      DeclareOpInterfaceMethods<MemoryEffectsOpInterface>,
      SameOperandsAndResultType]> {
   let summary = "Merges handles into one pointing to the union of payload ops";
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformInterfaces.cpp
@@ -189,7 +189,8 @@
   for (OpOperand &target : transform->getOpOperands()) {
     // If the operand uses an invalidated handle, report it.
     auto it = invalidatedHandles.find(target.get());
-    if (it != invalidatedHandles.end())
+    if (!transform.allowsRepeatedHandleOperands() &&
+        it != invalidatedHandles.end())
       return it->getSecond()(transform->getLoc()), failure();
 
     // Invalidate handles pointing to the operations nested in the operation
@@ -201,6 +202,7 @@
     if (llvm::any_of(effects, consumesTarget))
       recordHandleInvalidation(target);
   }
+
   return success();
 }
 
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformOps.cpp
@@ -449,6 +449,11 @@
   return DiagnosedSilenceableFailure::success();
 }
 
+bool transform::MergeHandlesOp::allowsRepeatedHandleOperands() {
+  // Handles may be the same if deduplicating is enabled.
+  return getDeduplicate();
+}
+
 void transform::MergeHandlesOp::getEffects(
     SmallVectorImpl<MemoryEffects::EffectInstance> &effects) {
   consumesHandle(getHandles(), effects);
diff --git a/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/expensive-checks.mlir b/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/expensive-checks.mlir
--- a/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/expensive-checks.mlir
+++ b/mlir/test/Dialect/Transform/expensive-checks.mlir
@@ -99,3 +99,17 @@
     transform.test_consume_operand %1, %2
   }
 }
+
+// -----
+
+// Deduplication attribute allows "merge_handles" to take repeated operands.
+
+module {
+
+  transform.sequence failures(propagate) {
+  ^bb0(%0: !pdl.operation):
+    %1 = transform.test_copy_payload %0
+    %2 = transform.test_copy_payload %0
+    transform.merge_handles %1, %2 { deduplicate } : !pdl.operation
+  }
+}