diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir-c/Registration.h b/mlir/include/mlir-c/Registration.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir-c/Registration.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir-c/Registration.h
@@ -23,47 +23,34 @@
 // API name (i.e. "Standard", "Tensor", "Linalg") and namespace (i.e. "std",
 // "tensor", "linalg"). The following declarations are produced:
 //
-//   /// Registers the dialect with the given context. This allows the
-//   /// dialect to be loaded dynamically if needed when parsing. */
-//   void mlirContextRegister{NAME}Dialect(MlirContext);
-//
-//   /// Loads the dialect into the given context. The dialect does _not_
-//   /// have to be registered in advance.
-//   MlirDialect mlirContextLoad{NAME}Dialect(MlirContext context);
-//
-//   /// Returns the namespace of the Standard dialect, suitable for loading it.
-//   MlirStringRef mlir{NAME}DialectGetNamespace();
-//
 //   /// Gets the above hook methods in struct form for a dialect by namespace.
 //   /// This is intended to facilitate dynamic lookup and registration of
 //   /// dialects via a plugin facility based on shared library symbol lookup.
-//   const MlirDialectRegistrationHooks *mlirGetDialectHooks__{NAMESPACE}__();
+//   const MlirDialectHandle *mlirGetDialectHandle__{NAMESPACE}__();
 //
 // This is done via a common macro to facilitate future expansion to
 // registration schemes.
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
+struct MlirDialectHandle {
+  const void *ptr;
+};
+typedef struct MlirDialectHandle MlirDialectHandle;
+
 #define MLIR_DECLARE_CAPI_DIALECT_REGISTRATION(Name, Namespace)                \
-  MLIR_CAPI_EXPORTED void mlirContextRegister##Name##Dialect(                  \
-      MlirContext context);                                                    \
-  MLIR_CAPI_EXPORTED MlirDialect mlirContextLoad##Name##Dialect(               \
-      MlirContext context);                                                    \
-  MLIR_CAPI_EXPORTED MlirStringRef mlir##Name##DialectGetNamespace();          \
-  MLIR_CAPI_EXPORTED const MlirDialectRegistrationHooks                        \
-      *mlirGetDialectHooks__##Namespace##__()
+  MLIR_CAPI_EXPORTED MlirDialectHandle mlirGetDialectHandle__##Namespace##__()
 
-/// Hooks for dynamic discovery of dialects.
-typedef void (*MlirContextRegisterDialectHook)(MlirContext context);
-typedef MlirDialect (*MlirContextLoadDialectHook)(MlirContext context);
-typedef MlirStringRef (*MlirDialectGetNamespaceHook)();
+/// Returns the namespace associated with the provided dialect handle.
+MLIR_CAPI_EXPORTED
+MlirStringRef mlirDialectHandleGetNamespace(MlirDialectHandle);
 
-/// Structure of dialect registration hooks.
-struct MlirDialectRegistrationHooks {
-  MlirContextRegisterDialectHook registerHook;
-  MlirContextLoadDialectHook loadHook;
-  MlirDialectGetNamespaceHook getNamespaceHook;
-};
-typedef struct MlirDialectRegistrationHooks MlirDialectRegistrationHooks;
+/// Registers the dialect associated with the provided dialect handle.
+MLIR_CAPI_EXPORTED void mlirDialectHandleRegisterDialect(MlirDialectHandle,
+                                                         MlirContext);
+
+/// Loads the dialect associated with the provided dialect handle.
+MLIR_CAPI_EXPORTED MlirDialect mlirDialectHandleLoadDialect(MlirDialectHandle,
+                                                            MlirContext);
 
 /// Registers all dialects known to core MLIR with the provided Context.
 /// This is needed before creating IR for these Dialects.
diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/CAPI/Registration.h b/mlir/include/mlir/CAPI/Registration.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/CAPI/Registration.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/CAPI/Registration.h
@@ -20,21 +20,34 @@
 // of the dialect class.
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
+/// Hooks for dynamic discovery of dialects.
+typedef void (*MlirContextRegisterDialectHook)(MlirContext context);
+typedef MlirDialect (*MlirContextLoadDialectHook)(MlirContext context);
+typedef MlirStringRef (*MlirDialectGetNamespaceHook)();
+
+/// Structure of dialect registration hooks.
+struct MlirDialectRegistrationHooks {
+  MlirContextRegisterDialectHook registerHook;
+  MlirContextLoadDialectHook loadHook;
+  MlirDialectGetNamespaceHook getNamespaceHook;
+};
+typedef struct MlirDialectRegistrationHooks MlirDialectRegistrationHooks;
+
 #define MLIR_DEFINE_CAPI_DIALECT_REGISTRATION(Name, Namespace, ClassName)      \
-  void mlirContextRegister##Name##Dialect(MlirContext context) {               \
+  static void mlirContextRegister##Name##Dialect(MlirContext context) {        \
     unwrap(context)->getDialectRegistry().insert<ClassName>();                 \
   }                                                                            \
-  MlirDialect mlirContextLoad##Name##Dialect(MlirContext context) {            \
+  static MlirDialect mlirContextLoad##Name##Dialect(MlirContext context) {     \
     return wrap(unwrap(context)->getOrLoadDialect<ClassName>());               \
   }                                                                            \
-  MlirStringRef mlir##Name##DialectGetNamespace() {                            \
+  static MlirStringRef mlir##Name##DialectGetNamespace() {                     \
     return wrap(ClassName::getDialectNamespace());                             \
   }                                                                            \
-  const MlirDialectRegistrationHooks *mlirGetDialectHooks__##Namespace##__() { \
+  MlirDialectHandle mlirGetDialectHandle__##Namespace##__() {                  \
     static MlirDialectRegistrationHooks hooks = {                              \
         mlirContextRegister##Name##Dialect, mlirContextLoad##Name##Dialect,    \
         mlir##Name##DialectGetNamespace};                                      \
-    return &hooks;                                                             \
+    return MlirDialectHandle{&hooks};                                          \
   }
 
 #endif // MLIR_CAPI_REGISTRATION_H
diff --git a/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
   BuiltinAttributes.cpp
   BuiltinTypes.cpp
   Diagnostics.cpp
+  DialectHandle.cpp
   IntegerSet.cpp
   IR.cpp
   Pass.cpp
diff --git a/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/DialectHandle.cpp b/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/DialectHandle.cpp
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/lib/CAPI/IR/DialectHandle.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+//===- DialectHandle.cpp - C Interface for MLIR Dialect Operations -------===//
+//
+// 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/CAPI/Registration.h"
+
+static const MlirDialectRegistrationHooks *
+unwrapHooks(MlirDialectHandle handle) {
+  return (const MlirDialectRegistrationHooks *)handle.ptr;
+}
+
+MlirStringRef mlirDialectHandleGetNamespace(MlirDialectHandle handle) {
+  return unwrapHooks(handle)->getNamespaceHook();
+}
+
+void mlirDialectHandleRegisterDialect(MlirDialectHandle handle,
+                                      MlirContext ctx) {
+  unwrapHooks(handle)->registerHook(ctx);
+}
+
+MlirDialect mlirDialectHandleLoadDialect(MlirDialectHandle handle,
+                                         MlirContext ctx) {
+  return unwrapHooks(handle)->loadHook(ctx);
+}
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
@@ -1412,23 +1412,26 @@
   if (mlirContextGetNumLoadedDialects(ctx) != 1)
     return 1;
 
-  MlirDialect std =
-      mlirContextGetOrLoadDialect(ctx, mlirStandardDialectGetNamespace());
+  MlirDialectHandle stdHandle = mlirGetDialectHandle__std__();
+
+  MlirDialect std = mlirContextGetOrLoadDialect(
+      ctx, mlirDialectHandleGetNamespace(stdHandle));
   if (!mlirDialectIsNull(std))
     return 2;
 
-  mlirContextRegisterStandardDialect(ctx);
+  mlirDialectHandleRegisterDialect(stdHandle, ctx);
 
-  std = mlirContextGetOrLoadDialect(ctx, mlirStandardDialectGetNamespace());
+  std = mlirContextGetOrLoadDialect(ctx,
+                                    mlirDialectHandleGetNamespace(stdHandle));
   if (mlirDialectIsNull(std))
     return 3;
 
-  MlirDialect alsoStd = mlirContextLoadStandardDialect(ctx);
+  MlirDialect alsoStd = mlirDialectHandleLoadDialect(stdHandle, ctx);
   if (!mlirDialectEqual(std, alsoStd))
     return 4;
 
   MlirStringRef stdNs = mlirDialectGetNamespace(std);
-  MlirStringRef alsoStdNs = mlirStandardDialectGetNamespace();
+  MlirStringRef alsoStdNs = mlirDialectHandleGetNamespace(stdHandle);
   if (stdNs.length != alsoStdNs.length ||
       strncmp(stdNs.data, alsoStdNs.data, stdNs.length))
     return 5;