diff --git a/compiler/extccomp.nim b/compiler/extccomp.nim
index 82cf5afb91970..3a0e3daa4d730 100644
--- a/compiler/extccomp.nim
+++ b/compiler/extccomp.nim
@@ -293,6 +293,32 @@ compiler envcc:
     cppXsupport: "",
     props: {hasGnuAsm})
 
+compiler nifc:
+  # no purpose other than config/exe path
+  result = (
+    name: "nifc",
+    objExt: "o",
+    optSpeed: "",
+    optSize: "",
+    compilerExe: "nifc",
+    cppCompiler: "",
+    compileTmpl: "",
+    buildGui: "",
+    buildDll: "",
+    buildLib: "",
+    linkerExe: "",
+    linkTmpl: "",
+    includeCmd: "",
+    linkDirCmd: "",
+    linkLibCmd: "",
+    debug: " -g ",
+    pic: "",
+    asmStmtFrmt: "",
+    structStmtFmt: "",
+    produceAsm: "",
+    cppXsupport: "",
+    props: {})
+
 const
   CC*: array[succ(low(TSystemCC))..high(TSystemCC), TInfoCC] = [
     gcc(),
@@ -307,7 +333,8 @@ const
     icc(),
     clangcl(),
     hipcc(),
-    nvcc()]
+    nvcc(),
+    nifc()]
 
   hExt* = ".h"
 
@@ -996,6 +1023,9 @@ proc callCCompiler*(conf: ConfigRef) =
     script.add("\n")
     generateScript(conf, script)
 
+proc callNifc*(conf: ConfigRef) =
+  discard
+
 template hashNimExe(): string = $secureHashFile(os.getAppFilename())
 
 proc jsonBuildInstructionsFile*(conf: ConfigRef): AbsoluteFile =
diff --git a/compiler/main.nim b/compiler/main.nim
index 4c52317cfae70..5fe0be9315b8f 100644
--- a/compiler/main.nim
+++ b/compiler/main.nim
@@ -147,7 +147,10 @@ proc commandCompileToC(graph: ModuleGraph) =
     if graph.backend != nil:
       cgenWriteModules(graph.backend, conf)
   if conf.cmd != cmdTcc and graph.backend != nil:
-    extccomp.callCCompiler(conf)
+    when defined(nimCompileToNifc):
+      extccomp.callNifc(conf)
+    else:
+      extccomp.callCCompiler(conf)
     # for now we do not support writing out a .json file with the build instructions when HCR is on
     if not conf.hcrOn:
       extccomp.writeJsonBuildInstructions(conf, graph.cachedFiles)
diff --git a/compiler/options.nim b/compiler/options.nim
index 22af4bbd00dd4..bf6325840967e 100644
--- a/compiler/options.nim
+++ b/compiler/options.nim
@@ -256,7 +256,8 @@ type
 
   TSystemCC* = enum
     ccNone, ccGcc, ccNintendoSwitch, ccLLVM_Gcc, ccCLang, ccBcc, ccVcc,
-    ccTcc, ccEnv, ccIcl, ccIcc, ccClangCl, ccHipcc, ccNvcc
+    ccTcc, ccEnv, ccIcl, ccIcc, ccClangCl, ccHipcc, ccNvcc,
+    ccNifc # no purpose other than exe config etc
 
   ExceptionSystem* = enum
     excNone,   # no exception system selected yet