diff --git a/clang/lib/Driver/ToolChains/Clang.cpp b/clang/lib/Driver/ToolChains/Clang.cpp
--- a/clang/lib/Driver/ToolChains/Clang.cpp
+++ b/clang/lib/Driver/ToolChains/Clang.cpp
@@ -1112,10 +1112,15 @@
                                                  const ArgList &Args,
                                                  ArgStringList &CmdArgs) {
   unsigned CodeObjVer = getOrCheckAMDGPUCodeObjectVersion(D, Args);
-  CmdArgs.insert(CmdArgs.begin() + 1,
-                 Args.MakeArgString(Twine("--amdhsa-code-object-version=") +
-                                    Twine(CodeObjVer)));
-  CmdArgs.insert(CmdArgs.begin() + 1, "-mllvm");
+  // Currently defaults to 3 in AMDGPUBaseInfo.cpp
+  // Using that default lets clang emit IR for amdgcn when llvm has been built
+  // without that target, provided the user wants this code object version
+  if (CodeObjVer != 3) {
+    CmdArgs.insert(CmdArgs.begin() + 1,
+                   Args.MakeArgString(Twine("--amdhsa-code-object-version=") +
+                                      Twine(CodeObjVer)));
+    CmdArgs.insert(CmdArgs.begin() + 1, "-mllvm");
+  }
 }
 
 void Clang::AddPreprocessingOptions(Compilation &C, const JobAction &JA,
diff --git a/clang/test/Driver/amdgpu-features-as.s b/clang/test/Driver/amdgpu-features-as.s
--- a/clang/test/Driver/amdgpu-features-as.s
+++ b/clang/test/Driver/amdgpu-features-as.s
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 // RUN: %clang -### -target amdgcn-amd-amdhsa -mcpu=gfx900 -mcode-object-v3 %s 2>&1 | FileCheck --check-prefix=CODE-OBJECT-V3 %s
 // CODE-OBJECT-V3: warning: argument '-mcode-object-v3' is deprecated, use '-mcode-object-version=3' instead [-Wdeprecated]
-// CODE-OBJECT-V3: "-mllvm" "--amdhsa-code-object-version=3"
 
 // RUN: %clang -### -target amdgcn-amd-amdhsa amdgcn -mcpu=gfx900 -mno-code-object-v3 %s 2>&1 | FileCheck --check-prefix=NO-CODE-OBJECT-V3 %s
 // NO-CODE-OBJECT-V3: warning: argument '-mno-code-object-v3' is deprecated, use '-mcode-object-version=2' instead [-Wdeprecated]
@@ -8,4 +7,3 @@
 
 // RUN: %clang -### -target amdgcn-amd-amdhsa -mcpu=gfx900 -mcode-object-v3 -mno-code-object-v3 -mcode-object-v3 %s 2>&1 | FileCheck --check-prefix=MUL-CODE-OBJECT-V3 %s
 // MUL-CODE-OBJECT-V3: warning: argument '-mcode-object-v3' is deprecated, use '-mcode-object-version=3' instead [-Wdeprecated]
-// MUL-CODE-OBJECT-V3: "-mllvm" "--amdhsa-code-object-version=3"
diff --git a/clang/test/Driver/amdgpu-features.c b/clang/test/Driver/amdgpu-features.c
--- a/clang/test/Driver/amdgpu-features.c
+++ b/clang/test/Driver/amdgpu-features.c
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 // RUN: %clang -### -target amdgcn-amd-amdhsa -mcpu=gfx700 -mcode-object-v3 %s 2>&1 | FileCheck --check-prefix=CODE-OBJECT-V3 %s
 // CODE-OBJECT-V3: warning: argument '-mcode-object-v3' is deprecated, use '-mcode-object-version=3' instead [-Wdeprecated]
-// CODE-OBJECT-V3: "-mllvm" "--amdhsa-code-object-version=3"
 
 // RUN: %clang -### -target amdgcn-amd-amdhsa amdgcn -mcpu=gfx700 -mno-code-object-v3 %s 2>&1 | FileCheck --check-prefix=NO-CODE-OBJECT-V3 %s
 // NO-CODE-OBJECT-V3: warning: argument '-mno-code-object-v3' is deprecated, use '-mcode-object-version=2' instead [-Wdeprecated]
@@ -8,7 +7,6 @@
 
 // RUN: %clang -### -target amdgcn-amd-amdhsa -mcpu=gfx700 -mcode-object-v3 -mno-code-object-v3 -mcode-object-v3 %s 2>&1 | FileCheck --check-prefix=MUL-CODE-OBJECT-V3 %s
 // MUL-CODE-OBJECT-V3: warning: argument '-mcode-object-v3' is deprecated, use '-mcode-object-version=3' instead [-Wdeprecated]
-// MUL-CODE-OBJECT-V3: "-mllvm" "--amdhsa-code-object-version=3"
 
 // RUN: %clang -### -target amdgcn-amdhsa -mcpu=gfx900:xnack+ %s 2>&1 | FileCheck --check-prefix=XNACK %s
 // XNACK: "-target-feature" "+xnack"