diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir-c/IR.h b/mlir/include/mlir-c/IR.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir-c/IR.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir-c/IR.h
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
+struct MlirStringRef;
+
 /*============================================================================*/
 /** Opaque type declarations.
  *
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@
   typedef struct name name
 
 DEFINE_C_API_STRUCT(MlirContext, void);
+DEFINE_C_API_STRUCT(MlirDialect, void);
 DEFINE_C_API_STRUCT(MlirOperation, void);
 DEFINE_C_API_STRUCT(MlirBlock, void);
 DEFINE_C_API_STRUCT(MlirRegion, void);
@@ -91,6 +94,37 @@
 /** Takes an MLIR context owned by the caller and destroys it. */
 void mlirContextDestroy(MlirContext context);
 
+/** Returns the number of dialects registered with the given context. A
+ * registered dialect may be loaded explicitly or as a pass dependency. */
+intptr_t mlirContextGetNumRegisteredDialects(MlirContext context);
+
+/** Returns the number of dialects loaded by the context. A dialect must be
+ * loaded before the opeations, types and attributes it contains can be used. */
+intptr_t mlirContextGetNumLoadedDialects(MlirContext context);
+
+/** Gets the dialect instance owned by the given context using the dialect
+ * namespace to identify it, loads (i.e., construts the instance of) the dialect
+ * if necessary. If the dialect is not registered with the context, returns
+ * null. */
+MlirDialect mlirContextGetOrLoadDialect(MlirContext context,
+                                        struct MlirStringRef name);
+
+/*============================================================================*/
+/* Dialect API.                                                               */
+/*============================================================================*/
+
+/** Returns the context that owns the dialect. */
+MlirContext mlirDialectGetContext(MlirDialect dialect);
+
+/** Checks if the dialect is null. */
+int mlirDialectIsNull(MlirDialect dialect);
+
+/** Checks if two dialects are equal. */
+int mlirDialectEqual(MlirDialect dialect1, MlirDialect dialect2);
+
+/** Returns the namespace of the given dialect. */
+struct MlirStringRef mlirDialectGetNamespace(MlirDialect dialect);
+
 /*============================================================================*/
 /* Location API.                                                              */
 /*============================================================================*/
diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir-c/StandardDialect.h b/mlir/include/mlir-c/StandardDialect.h
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir-c/StandardDialect.h
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*===-- mlir-c/StandardDialect.h - C API for Standard dialect -----*- C -*-===*\
+|*                                                                            *|
+|* Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM          *|
+|* Exceptions.                                                                *|
+|* See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.                  *|
+|* SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception                    *|
+|*                                                                            *|
+|*===----------------------------------------------------------------------===*|
+|*                                                                            *|
+|* This header declares the C interface for registering and accessing the     *|
+|* Standard dialect. A dialect should be registered with a context to make it *|
+|* available to users of the context. These users must load the dialect       *|
+|* before using any of its attributes, operations or types. Parser and pass   *|
+|* manager can load registered dialects automatically.                        *|
+|*                                                                            *|
+\*===----------------------------------------------------------------------===*/
+
+#ifndef MLIR_C_STANDARDDIALECT_H
+#define MLIR_C_STANDARDDIALECT_H
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+struct MlirDialect;
+struct MlirContext;
+struct MlirStringRef;
+
+/** Registers the Standard dialect with the given context. */
+void mlirContextRegisterStandardDialect(struct MlirContext context);
+
+/** Returns the namespace of the Standard dialect, suitable for loading it. */
+struct MlirStringRef mlirStandardDialectGetNamespace();
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif // MLIR_C_STANDARDDIALECT_H
diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/CAPI/IR.h b/mlir/include/mlir/CAPI/IR.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/CAPI/IR.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/CAPI/IR.h
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include "mlir/IR/Operation.h"
 
 DEFINE_C_API_PTR_METHODS(MlirContext, mlir::MLIRContext)
+DEFINE_C_API_PTR_METHODS(MlirDialect, mlir::Dialect)
 DEFINE_C_API_PTR_METHODS(MlirOperation, mlir::Operation)
 DEFINE_C_API_PTR_METHODS(MlirBlock, mlir::Block)
 DEFINE_C_API_PTR_METHODS(MlirRegion, mlir::Region)
diff --git a/mlir/lib/CAPI/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/lib/CAPI/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/mlir/lib/CAPI/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/lib/CAPI/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 add_subdirectory(IR)
 add_subdirectory(Registration)
+add_subdirectory(Standard)
diff --git a/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/IR.cpp b/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/IR.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/IR.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/IR.cpp
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
 #include "mlir-c/IR.h"
+#include "mlir-c/Support.h"
 
 #include "mlir/CAPI/IR.h"
+#include "mlir/CAPI/Support.h"
 #include "mlir/CAPI/Utils.h"
 #include "mlir/IR/Attributes.h"
 #include "mlir/IR/Dialect.h"
@@ -34,6 +36,41 @@
 
 void mlirContextDestroy(MlirContext context) { delete unwrap(context); }
 
+intptr_t mlirContextGetNumRegisteredDialects(MlirContext context) {
+  return static_cast<intptr_t>(unwrap(context)->getAvailableDialects().size());
+}
+
+// TODO: expose a cheaper way than constructing + sorting a vector only to take
+// its size.
+intptr_t mlirContextGetNumLoadedDialects(MlirContext context) {
+  return static_cast<intptr_t>(unwrap(context)->getLoadedDialects().size());
+}
+
+MlirDialect mlirContextGetOrLoadDialect(MlirContext context,
+                                        MlirStringRef name) {
+  return wrap(unwrap(context)->getOrLoadDialect(unwrap(name)));
+}
+
+/* ========================================================================== */
+/* Dialect API.                                                               */
+/* ========================================================================== */
+
+MlirContext mlirDialectGetContext(MlirDialect dialect) {
+  return wrap(unwrap(dialect)->getContext());
+}
+
+int mlirDialectIsNull(MlirDialect dialect) {
+  return unwrap(dialect) == nullptr;
+}
+
+int mlirDialectEqual(MlirDialect dialect1, MlirDialect dialect2) {
+  return unwrap(dialect1) == unwrap(dialect2);
+}
+
+MlirStringRef mlirDialectGetNamespace(MlirDialect dialect) {
+  return wrap(unwrap(dialect)->getNamespace());
+}
+
 /* ========================================================================== */
 /* Location API.                                                              */
 /* ========================================================================== */
diff --git a/mlir/lib/CAPI/Standard/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/lib/CAPI/Standard/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/lib/CAPI/Standard/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+add_mlir_library(MLIRCAPIStandard
+
+  StandardDialect.cpp
+
+  ADDITIONAL_HEADER_DIRS
+  ${MLIR_MAIN_INCLUDE_DIR}/mlir-c
+
+  LINK_LIBS PUBLIC
+  MLIRCAPIIR
+  MLIRStandardOps
+  )
diff --git a/mlir/lib/CAPI/Standard/StandardDialect.cpp b/mlir/lib/CAPI/Standard/StandardDialect.cpp
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/lib/CAPI/Standard/StandardDialect.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+//===- StandardDialect.cpp - C Interface for Standard dialect -------------===//
+//
+// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#include "mlir-c/StandardDialect.h"
+#include "mlir-c/IR.h"
+#include "mlir/CAPI/IR.h"
+#include "mlir/CAPI/Support.h"
+#include "mlir/Dialect/StandardOps/IR/Ops.h"
+
+void mlirContextRegisterStandardDialect(MlirContext context) {
+  unwrap(context)->getDialectRegistry().insert<mlir::StandardOpsDialect>();
+}
+
+MlirStringRef mlirStandardDialectGetNamespace() {
+  return wrap(mlir::StandardOpsDialect::getDialectNamespace());
+}
diff --git a/mlir/test/CAPI/ir.c b/mlir/test/CAPI/ir.c
--- a/mlir/test/CAPI/ir.c
+++ b/mlir/test/CAPI/ir.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "mlir-c/Registration.h"
 #include "mlir-c/StandardAttributes.h"
 #include "mlir-c/StandardTypes.h"
+#include "mlir-c/StandardDialect.h"
 
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <math.h>
@@ -709,6 +710,32 @@
   return 0;
 }
 
+int registerOnlyStd() {
+  MlirContext ctx = mlirContextCreate();
+  // The built-in dialect is always loaded.
+  if (mlirContextGetNumLoadedDialects(ctx) != 1)
+    return 1;
+
+  MlirDialect std =
+      mlirContextGetOrLoadDialect(ctx, mlirStandardDialectGetNamespace());
+  if (!mlirDialectIsNull(std))
+    return 2;
+
+  mlirContextRegisterStandardDialect(ctx);
+  if (mlirContextGetNumRegisteredDialects(ctx) != 1)
+    return 3;
+  if (mlirContextGetNumLoadedDialects(ctx) != 1)
+    return 4;
+
+  std = mlirContextGetOrLoadDialect(ctx, mlirStandardDialectGetNamespace());
+  if (mlirDialectIsNull(std))
+    return 5;
+  if (mlirContextGetNumLoadedDialects(ctx) != 2)
+    return 6;
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
 int main() {
   MlirContext ctx = mlirContextCreate();
   mlirRegisterAllDialects(ctx);
@@ -837,6 +864,14 @@
   errcode = printAffineMap(ctx);
   fprintf(stderr, "%d\n", errcode);
 
+  fprintf(stderr, "@registration\n");
+  errcode = registerOnlyStd();
+  fprintf(stderr, "%d\n", errcode);
+  // clang-format off
+  // CHECK-LABEL: @registration
+  // CHECK: 0
+  // clang-format on
+
   mlirContextDestroy(ctx);
 
   return 0;