diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/base/bootstrap_false.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/base/bootstrap_false.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..de86644527
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/base/bootstrap_false.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// Copyright 2021 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// +build !compiler_bootstrap
+
+package base
+
+// CompilerBootstrap reports whether the current compiler binary was
+// built with -tags=compiler_bootstrap.
+const CompilerBootstrap = false
diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/base/bootstrap_true.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/base/bootstrap_true.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..81a17e1f6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/base/bootstrap_true.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// Copyright 2021 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// +build compiler_bootstrap
+
+package base
+
+// CompilerBootstrap reports whether the current compiler binary was
+// built with -tags=compiler_bootstrap.
+const CompilerBootstrap = true
diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/unified.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/unified.go
index 9a41ea9dfe..96c0916493 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/unified.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/unified.go
@@ -161,6 +161,16 @@ func writePkgStub(noders []*noder) string {
 
 // freePackage ensures the given package is garbage collected.
 func freePackage(pkg *types2.Package) {
+	// The GC test below relies on a precise GC that runs finalizers as
+	// soon as objects are unreachable. Our implementation provides
+	// this, but other/older implementations may not (e.g., Go 1.4 does
+	// not because of #22350). To avoid imposing unnecessary
+	// restrictions on the GOROOT_BOOTSTRAP toolchain, we skip the test
+	// during bootstrapping.
+	if base.CompilerBootstrap {
+		return
+	}
+
 	// Set a finalizer on pkg so we can detect if/when it's collected.
 	done := make(chan struct{})
 	runtime.SetFinalizer(pkg, func(*types2.Package) { close(done) })