diff --git a/src/common.rs b/src/common.rs
index 7ab82ee..17eaa54 100644
--- a/src/common.rs
+++ b/src/common.rs
@@ -226,6 +226,9 @@ pub struct Config {
     /// created in `/<build_base>/rustfix_missing_coverage.txt`
     pub rustfix_coverage: bool,
 
+    /// The default Rust edition
+    pub edition: Option<String>,
+
     // Configuration for various run-make tests frobbing things like C compilers
     // or querying about various LLVM component information.
     pub cc: String,
@@ -416,6 +419,7 @@ impl Default for Config {
             llvm_components: "llvm-components".to_string(),
             llvm_cxxflags: "llvm-cxxflags".to_string(),
             nodejs: None,
+            edition: None,
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/header.rs b/src/header.rs
index c755e26..e2b95d6 100644
--- a/src/header.rs
+++ b/src/header.rs
@@ -627,7 +627,7 @@ impl Config {
     }
 
     fn parse_edition(&self, line: &str) -> Option<String> {
-        self.parse_name_value_directive(line, "edition")
+        self.parse_name_value_directive(line, "edition").or_else(|| self.edition.clone())
     }
 }