diff --git a/mlir/docs/PassManagement.md b/mlir/docs/PassManagement.md
--- a/mlir/docs/PassManagement.md
+++ b/mlir/docs/PassManagement.md
@@ -140,13 +140,15 @@
 runtime. In these situations, a pass may override the following hook to
 initialize this heavy state:
 
-*   `void initialize(MLIRContext *context)`
+*   `LogicalResult initialize(MLIRContext *context)`
 
 This hook is executed once per run of a full pass pipeline, meaning that it does
 not have access to the state available during a `runOnOperation` call. More
 concretely, all necessary accesses to an `MLIRContext` should be driven via the
 provided `context` parameter, and methods that utilize "per-run" state such as
 `getContext`/`getOperation`/`getAnalysis`/etc. must not be used.
+In case of error during initialization, the pass is expected to emit an error
+and return a `failure()` which will abort the pass pipeline execution.
 
 ## Analysis Management
 
diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Pass/Pass.h b/mlir/include/mlir/Pass/Pass.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Pass/Pass.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Pass/Pass.h
@@ -170,7 +170,9 @@
   /// should not rely on any state accessible during the execution of a pass.
   /// For example, `getContext`/`getOperation`/`getAnalysis`/etc. should not be
   /// invoked within this hook.
-  virtual void initialize(MLIRContext *context) {}
+  /// Returns a LogicalResult to indicate failure, in which case the pass
+  /// pipeline won't execute.
+  virtual LogicalResult initialize(MLIRContext *context) { return success(); }
 
   /// Schedule an arbitrary pass pipeline on the provided operation.
   /// This can be invoke any time in a pass to dynamic schedule more passes.
diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Pass/PassManager.h b/mlir/include/mlir/Pass/PassManager.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Pass/PassManager.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Pass/PassManager.h
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
   /// Initialize all of the passes within this pass manager with the given
   /// initialization generation. The initialization generation is used to detect
   /// if a pass manager has already been initialized.
-  void initialize(MLIRContext *context, unsigned newInitGeneration);
+  LogicalResult initialize(MLIRContext *context, unsigned newInitGeneration);
 
   /// A pointer to an internal implementation instance.
   std::unique_ptr<detail::OpPassManagerImpl> impl;
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
@@ -331,23 +331,26 @@
 
 OpPassManager::Nesting OpPassManager::getNesting() { return impl->nesting; }
 
-void OpPassManager::initialize(MLIRContext *context,
-                               unsigned newInitGeneration) {
+LogicalResult OpPassManager::initialize(MLIRContext *context,
+                                        unsigned newInitGeneration) {
   if (impl->initializationGeneration == newInitGeneration)
-    return;
+    return success();
   impl->initializationGeneration = newInitGeneration;
   for (Pass &pass : getPasses()) {
     // If this pass isn't an adaptor, directly initialize it.
     auto *adaptor = dyn_cast<OpToOpPassAdaptor>(&pass);
     if (!adaptor) {
-      pass.initialize(context);
+      if (failed(pass.initialize(context)))
+        return failure();
       continue;
     }
 
     // Otherwise, initialize each of the adaptors pass managers.
     for (OpPassManager &adaptorPM : adaptor->getPassManagers())
-      adaptorPM.initialize(context, newInitGeneration);
+      if (failed(adaptorPM.initialize(context, newInitGeneration)))
+        return failure();
   }
+  return success();
 }
 
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
@@ -379,7 +382,8 @@
     assert(pipeline.getOpName() == root->getName().getStringRef());
 
     // Initialize the user provided pipeline and execute the pipeline.
-    pipeline.initialize(root->getContext(), parentInitGeneration);
+    if (failed(pipeline.initialize(root->getContext(), parentInitGeneration)))
+      return failure();
     AnalysisManager nestedAm = root == op ? am : am.nest(root);
     return OpToOpPassAdaptor::runPipeline(pipeline.getPasses(), root, nestedAm,
                                           verifyPasses, parentInitGeneration,
@@ -872,7 +876,8 @@
   // Initialize all of the passes within the pass manager with a new generation.
   llvm::hash_code newInitKey = context->getRegistryHash();
   if (newInitKey != initializationKey) {
-    initialize(context, impl->initializationGeneration + 1);
+    if (failed(initialize(context, impl->initializationGeneration + 1)))
+      return failure();
     initializationKey = newInitKey;
   }
 
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Transforms/Canonicalizer.cpp b/mlir/lib/Transforms/Canonicalizer.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Transforms/Canonicalizer.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Transforms/Canonicalizer.cpp
@@ -23,11 +23,12 @@
 struct Canonicalizer : public CanonicalizerBase<Canonicalizer> {
   /// Initialize the canonicalizer by building the set of patterns used during
   /// execution.
-  void initialize(MLIRContext *context) override {
+  LogicalResult initialize(MLIRContext *context) override {
     OwningRewritePatternList owningPatterns;
     for (auto *op : context->getRegisteredOperations())
       op->getCanonicalizationPatterns(owningPatterns, context);
     patterns = std::move(owningPatterns);
+    return success();
   }
   void runOnOperation() override {
     (void)applyPatternsAndFoldGreedily(getOperation()->getRegions(), patterns);