diff --git a/src/compiler/nir/nir.h b/src/compiler/nir/nir.h
index 23bd1172559..5eda51c30f6 100644
--- a/src/compiler/nir/nir.h
+++ b/src/compiler/nir/nir.h
@@ -3445,6 +3445,11 @@ typedef struct nir_shader_compiler_options {
 
    bool lower_uniforms_to_ubo;
 
+   /* If the precision is ignored, backends that don't handle
+    * different precisions when passing data between stages and use
+    * vectorized IO can pack more varyings when linking. */
+   bool linker_ignore_precision;
+
    nir_lower_int64_options lower_int64_options;
    nir_lower_doubles_options lower_doubles_options;
    nir_divergence_options divergence_analysis_options;
diff --git a/src/compiler/nir/nir_linking_helpers.c b/src/compiler/nir/nir_linking_helpers.c
index fa451c33389..be4144ade86 100644
--- a/src/compiler/nir/nir_linking_helpers.c
+++ b/src/compiler/nir/nir_linking_helpers.c
@@ -582,9 +582,9 @@ gather_varying_component_info(nir_shader *producer, nir_shader *consumer,
             vc_info->interp_loc = get_interp_loc(in_var);
             vc_info->is_32bit = glsl_type_is_32bit(type);
             vc_info->is_patch = in_var->data.patch;
-            vc_info->is_mediump =
-               in_var->data.precision == GLSL_PRECISION_MEDIUM ||
-               in_var->data.precision == GLSL_PRECISION_LOW;
+            vc_info->is_mediump = !producer->options->linker_ignore_precision &&
+               (in_var->data.precision == GLSL_PRECISION_MEDIUM ||
+                in_var->data.precision == GLSL_PRECISION_LOW);
             vc_info->is_intra_stage_only = false;
             vc_info->initialised = true;
          }
@@ -647,9 +647,9 @@ gather_varying_component_info(nir_shader *producer, nir_shader *consumer,
                vc_info->interp_loc = get_interp_loc(out_var);
                vc_info->is_32bit = glsl_type_is_32bit(type);
                vc_info->is_patch = out_var->data.patch;
-               vc_info->is_mediump =
-                  out_var->data.precision == GLSL_PRECISION_MEDIUM ||
-                  out_var->data.precision == GLSL_PRECISION_LOW;
+               vc_info->is_mediump = !producer->options->linker_ignore_precision &&
+                  (out_var->data.precision == GLSL_PRECISION_MEDIUM ||
+                   out_var->data.precision == GLSL_PRECISION_LOW);
                vc_info->is_intra_stage_only = true;
                vc_info->initialised = true;
             }