diff --git a/lib/clif-backend/src/lib.rs b/lib/clif-backend/src/lib.rs
index 02bf479aa..59d3416ba 100644
--- a/lib/clif-backend/src/lib.rs
+++ b/lib/clif-backend/src/lib.rs
@@ -49,13 +49,15 @@ fn get_isa(config: Option<&CompilerConfig>) -> Box<dyn isa::TargetIsa> {
             if config.nan_canonicalization {
                 builder.set("enable_nan_canonicalization", "true").unwrap();
             }
-            enable_verifier = !config.disable_debug_mode_verification;
+            enable_verifier = config.enable_verification;
         } else {
             // Set defaults if no config found.
-            enable_verifier = true;
+            // NOTE: cfg(test) probably does nothing when not running `cargo test`
+            //       on this crate
+            enable_verifier = cfg!(test) || cfg!(debug_assertions);
         }
 
-        if (cfg!(test) || cfg!(debug_assertions)) && enable_verifier {
+        if enable_verifier {
             builder.set("enable_verifier", "true").unwrap();
         } else {
             builder.set("enable_verifier", "false").unwrap();
diff --git a/lib/runtime-core/src/backend.rs b/lib/runtime-core/src/backend.rs
index 2b0f54c4f..c6235475d 100644
--- a/lib/runtime-core/src/backend.rs
+++ b/lib/runtime-core/src/backend.rs
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ impl BackendCompilerConfig {
 }
 
 /// Configuration data for the compiler
-#[derive(Debug, Default)]
+#[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct CompilerConfig {
     /// Symbol information generated from emscripten; used for more detailed debug messages
     pub symbol_map: Option<HashMap<u32, String>>,
@@ -136,11 +136,12 @@ pub struct CompilerConfig {
     /// Enabling this makes execution deterministic but increases runtime overhead.
     pub nan_canonicalization: bool,
 
-    /// Turns off verification that is done by default when `debug_assertions` are enabled
-    /// (for example in 'debug' builds). Enabling this flag will make compilation faster at the
-    /// cost of not detecting bugs in the compiler. The verification steps that this flag
-    /// disables are disabled by default in 'release' builds.
-    pub disable_debug_mode_verification: bool,
+    /// Turns on verification that is done by default when `debug_assertions` are enabled
+    /// (for example in 'debug' builds). Disabling this flag will make compilation faster
+    /// in debug mode at the cost of not detecting bugs in the compiler.
+    ///
+    /// These verifications are disabled by default in 'release' builds.
+    pub enable_verification: bool,
 
     pub features: Features,
 
@@ -154,6 +155,30 @@ pub struct CompilerConfig {
     pub generate_debug_info: bool,
 }
 
+impl Default for CompilerConfig {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            symbol_map: Default::default(),
+            memory_bound_check_mode: Default::default(),
+            enforce_stack_check: Default::default(),
+            track_state: Default::default(),
+            full_preemption: Default::default(),
+            nan_canonicalization: Default::default(),
+            features: Default::default(),
+            triple: Default::default(),
+            cpu_name: Default::default(),
+            cpu_features: Default::default(),
+            backend_specific_config: Default::default(),
+            generate_debug_info: Default::default(),
+
+            // Default verification to 'on' when testing or running in debug mode.
+            // NOTE: cfg(test) probably does nothing when not running `cargo test`
+            //       on this crate
+            enable_verification: cfg!(test) || cfg!(debug_assertions),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl CompilerConfig {
     /// Use this to check if we should be generating debug information.
     /// This function takes into account the features that runtime-core was
diff --git a/lib/spectests/tests/spectest.rs b/lib/spectests/tests/spectest.rs
index c3d1ecce7..1748816ed 100644
--- a/lib/spectests/tests/spectest.rs
+++ b/lib/spectests/tests/spectest.rs
@@ -337,6 +337,7 @@ mod tests {
                                 threads: true,
                             },
                             nan_canonicalization: true,
+                            enable_verification: true,
                             ..Default::default()
                         };
                         let module = compile_with_config(&module.into_vec(), config)
@@ -776,6 +777,7 @@ mod tests {
                                 threads: true,
                             },
                             nan_canonicalization: true,
+                            enable_verification: true,
                             ..Default::default()
                         };
                         compile_with_config(&module.into_vec(), config)
@@ -829,6 +831,7 @@ mod tests {
                                 threads: true,
                             },
                             nan_canonicalization: true,
+                            enable_verification: true,
                             ..Default::default()
                         };
                         compile_with_config(&module.into_vec(), config)
@@ -881,6 +884,7 @@ mod tests {
                             threads: true,
                         },
                         nan_canonicalization: true,
+                        enable_verification: true,
                         ..Default::default()
                     };
                     let module = compile_with_config(&module.into_vec(), config)
@@ -977,6 +981,7 @@ mod tests {
                                 threads: true,
                             },
                             nan_canonicalization: true,
+                            enable_verification: true,
                             ..Default::default()
                         };
                         let module = compile_with_config(&module.into_vec(), config)