diff --git a/src/test.zig b/src/test.zig
index 39061a98ff..08d8ae188a 100644
--- a/src/test.zig
+++ b/src/test.zig
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ const enable_wasmtime: bool = build_options.enable_wasmtime;
 const enable_darling: bool = build_options.enable_darling;
 const enable_rosetta: bool = build_options.enable_rosetta;
 const glibc_runtimes_dir: ?[]const u8 = build_options.glibc_runtimes_dir;
-const skip_stage1 = build_options.skip_stage1;
+const skip_stage1 = builtin.zig_backend != .stage1 or build_options.skip_stage1;
 
 const hr = "=" ** 80;
 
@@ -233,11 +233,11 @@ const TestManifest = struct {
     fn ConfigValueIterator(comptime T: type) type {
         return struct {
             inner: std.mem.SplitIterator(u8),
-            parse_fn: ParseFn(T),
 
             fn next(self: *@This()) !?T {
                 const next_raw = self.inner.next() orelse return null;
-                return try self.parse_fn(next_raw);
+                const parseFn = getDefaultParser(T);
+                return try parseFn(next_raw);
             }
         };
     }
@@ -313,25 +313,15 @@ const TestManifest = struct {
         return manifest;
     }
 
-    fn getConfigForKeyCustomParser(
-        self: TestManifest,
-        key: []const u8,
-        comptime T: type,
-        parse_fn: ParseFn(T),
-    ) ConfigValueIterator(T) {
-        const bytes = self.config_map.get(key) orelse TestManifestConfigDefaults.get(self.@"type", key);
-        return ConfigValueIterator(T){
-            .inner = std.mem.split(u8, bytes, ","),
-            .parse_fn = parse_fn,
-        };
-    }
-
     fn getConfigForKey(
         self: TestManifest,
         key: []const u8,
         comptime T: type,
     ) ConfigValueIterator(T) {
-        return self.getConfigForKeyCustomParser(key, T, getDefaultParser(T));
+        const bytes = self.config_map.get(key) orelse TestManifestConfigDefaults.get(self.@"type", key);
+        return ConfigValueIterator(T){
+            .inner = std.mem.split(u8, bytes, ","),
+        };
     }
 
     fn getConfigForKeyAlloc(
@@ -377,6 +367,15 @@ const TestManifest = struct {
     }
 
     fn getDefaultParser(comptime T: type) ParseFn(T) {
+        if (T == CrossTarget) return struct {
+            fn parse(str: []const u8) anyerror!T {
+                var opts = CrossTarget.ParseOptions{
+                    .arch_os_abi = str,
+                };
+                return try CrossTarget.parse(opts);
+            }
+        }.parse;
+
         switch (@typeInfo(T)) {
             .Int => return struct {
                 fn parse(str: []const u8) anyerror!T {
@@ -397,14 +396,7 @@ const TestManifest = struct {
                     };
                 }
             }.parse,
-            .Struct => if (comptime std.mem.eql(u8, @typeName(T), "CrossTarget")) return struct {
-                fn parse(str: []const u8) anyerror!T {
-                    var opts = CrossTarget.ParseOptions{
-                        .arch_os_abi = str,
-                    };
-                    return try CrossTarget.parse(opts);
-                }
-            }.parse else @compileError("no default parser for " ++ @typeName(T)),
+            .Struct => @compileError("no default parser for " ++ @typeName(T)),
             else => @compileError("no default parser for " ++ @typeName(T)),
         }
     }
@@ -884,8 +876,6 @@ pub const TestContext = struct {
         src: [:0]const u8,
         expected_errors: []const []const u8,
     ) void {
-        if (skip_stage1) return;
-
         const case = ctx.addObj(name, .{});
         case.backend = .stage1;
         case.addError(src, expected_errors);
@@ -897,8 +887,6 @@ pub const TestContext = struct {
         src: [:0]const u8,
         expected_errors: []const []const u8,
     ) void {
-        if (skip_stage1) return;
-
         const case = ctx.addTest(name, .{});
         case.backend = .stage1;
         case.addError(src, expected_errors);
@@ -910,8 +898,6 @@ pub const TestContext = struct {
         src: [:0]const u8,
         expected_errors: []const []const u8,
     ) void {
-        if (skip_stage1) return;
-
         const case = ctx.addExe(name, .{});
         case.backend = .stage1;
         case.addError(src, expected_errors);
@@ -1143,8 +1129,6 @@ pub const TestContext = struct {
 
                     // Cross-product to get all possible test combinations
                     for (backends) |backend| {
-                        if (backend == .stage1 and skip_stage1) continue;
-
                         for (targets) |target| {
                             const name = try std.fmt.allocPrint(ctx.arena, "{s} ({s}, {s})", .{
                                 name_prefix,
@@ -1276,6 +1260,9 @@ pub const TestContext = struct {
                 if (!build_options.have_llvm and case.backend == .llvm)
                     continue;
 
+                if (skip_stage1 and case.backend == .stage1)
+                    continue;
+
                 if (build_options.test_filter) |test_filter| {
                     if (std.mem.indexOf(u8, case.name, test_filter) == null) continue;
                 }