In the constructor for mips fast isel is the following line of code: TargetSupported = ((Subtarget->getRelocationModel() == Reloc::PIC_) && (Subtarget->hasMips32r2() && (Subtarget->isABI_O32()))); If TargetSupported is false then we don't do Mips fast isel, even if it is requested. http://reviews.llvm.org/D4827