diff --git a/common/common.cpp b/common/common.cpp
index d314523db..1e06cad72 100644
--- a/common/common.cpp
+++ b/common/common.cpp
@@ -377,6 +377,9 @@ void common_init() {
 #endif
 
     LOG_INF("build: %d (%s) with %s for %s%s\n", LLAMA_BUILD_NUMBER, LLAMA_COMMIT, LLAMA_COMPILER, LLAMA_BUILD_TARGET, build_type);
+
+    // load dynamic backends
+    ggml_backend_load_all();
 }
 
 std::string common_params_get_system_info(const common_params & params) {
diff --git a/examples/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
index d63a96c1c..bceded4e4 100644
--- a/examples/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,13 +12,10 @@ include_directories(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
 
 if (EMSCRIPTEN)
 else()
-    add_subdirectory(cvector-generator)
     add_subdirectory(batched-bench)
     add_subdirectory(batched)
-    add_subdirectory(convert-llama2c-to-ggml)
     add_subdirectory(embedding)
     add_subdirectory(eval-callback)
-    add_subdirectory(export-lora)
     add_subdirectory(gbnf-validator)
     add_subdirectory(gguf-hash)
     add_subdirectory(gguf-split)
@@ -27,28 +24,34 @@ else()
     add_subdirectory(imatrix)
     add_subdirectory(infill)
     add_subdirectory(llama-bench)
-    add_subdirectory(llava)
     add_subdirectory(lookahead)
     add_subdirectory(lookup)
     add_subdirectory(main)
     add_subdirectory(parallel)
     add_subdirectory(passkey)
     add_subdirectory(perplexity)
-    add_subdirectory(quantize-stats)
     add_subdirectory(quantize)
     add_subdirectory(retrieval)
-    if (GGML_RPC)
-        add_subdirectory(rpc)
-    endif()
     if (LLAMA_BUILD_SERVER)
-    add_subdirectory(server)
-    endif()
-    if (GGML_SYCL)
-        add_subdirectory(sycl)
+        add_subdirectory(server)
     endif()
     add_subdirectory(save-load-state)
     add_subdirectory(simple)
     add_subdirectory(simple-chat)
     add_subdirectory(speculative)
     add_subdirectory(tokenize)
+    if (NOT GGML_BACKEND_DL)
+        # these examples use the backends directly and cannot be built with dynamic loading
+        add_subdirectory(convert-llama2c-to-ggml)
+        add_subdirectory(cvector-generator)
+        add_subdirectory(export-lora)
+        add_subdirectory(quantize-stats)
+        add_subdirectory(llava)
+        if (GGML_RPC)
+            add_subdirectory(rpc)
+        endif()
+        if (GGML_SYCL)
+            add_subdirectory(sycl)
+        endif()
+    endif()
 endif()
diff --git a/examples/llama-bench/llama-bench.cpp b/examples/llama-bench/llama-bench.cpp
index 3dc84a75c..bac606f47 100644
--- a/examples/llama-bench/llama-bench.cpp
+++ b/examples/llama-bench/llama-bench.cpp
@@ -1477,6 +1477,17 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
     cmd_params params = parse_cmd_params(argc, argv);
 
+    // initialize backends
+    ggml_backend_load_all();
+    auto * cpu_dev = ggml_backend_dev_by_type(GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU);
+    if (!cpu_dev) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "%s: error: CPU backend is not loaded\n", __func__);
+        return 1;
+    }
+    auto * cpu_reg = ggml_backend_dev_backend_reg(cpu_dev);
+    auto * ggml_threadpool_new_fn = (decltype(ggml_threadpool_new) *) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(cpu_reg, "ggml_threadpool_new");
+    auto * ggml_threadpool_free_fn = (decltype(ggml_threadpool_free) *) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(cpu_reg, "ggml_threadpool_free");
+
     // initialize llama.cpp
     if (!params.verbose) {
         llama_log_set(llama_null_log_callback, NULL);
@@ -1551,7 +1562,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
         tpp.poll       = t.poll;
         tpp.prio       = params.prio;
 
-        struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool = ggml_threadpool_new(&tpp);
+        struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool = ggml_threadpool_new_fn(&tpp);
         if (!threadpool) {
             fprintf(stderr, "%s: threadpool create failed : n_threads %d\n", __func__, tpp.n_threads);
             exit(1);
@@ -1612,7 +1623,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
         llama_free(ctx);
 
-        ggml_threadpool_free(threadpool);
+        ggml_threadpool_free_fn(threadpool);
     }
 
     llama_free_model(lmodel);
diff --git a/examples/main/main.cpp b/examples/main/main.cpp
index 7c4ce4be2..775eec1b1 100644
--- a/examples/main/main.cpp
+++ b/examples/main/main.cpp
@@ -165,6 +165,10 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
     LOG_INF("%s: llama threadpool init, n_threads = %d\n", __func__, (int) params.cpuparams.n_threads);
 
+    auto * reg = ggml_backend_dev_backend_reg(ggml_backend_dev_by_type(GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU));
+    auto * ggml_threadpool_new_fn = (decltype(ggml_threadpool_new) *) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(reg, "ggml_threadpool_new");
+    auto * ggml_threadpool_free_fn = (decltype(ggml_threadpool_free) *) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(reg, "ggml_threadpool_free");
+
     struct ggml_threadpool_params tpp_batch =
             ggml_threadpool_params_from_cpu_params(params.cpuparams_batch);
     struct ggml_threadpool_params tpp =
@@ -174,7 +178,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
     struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool_batch = NULL;
     if (!ggml_threadpool_params_match(&tpp, &tpp_batch)) {
-        threadpool_batch = ggml_threadpool_new(&tpp_batch);
+        threadpool_batch = ggml_threadpool_new_fn(&tpp_batch);
         if (!threadpool_batch) {
             LOG_ERR("%s: batch threadpool create failed : n_threads %d\n", __func__, tpp_batch.n_threads);
             return 1;
@@ -184,7 +188,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
         tpp.paused = true;
     }
 
-    struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool = ggml_threadpool_new(&tpp);
+    struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool = ggml_threadpool_new_fn(&tpp);
     if (!threadpool) {
         LOG_ERR("%s: threadpool create failed : n_threads %d\n", __func__, tpp.n_threads);
         return 1;
@@ -890,8 +894,8 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
     llama_backend_free();
 
-    ggml_threadpool_free(threadpool);
-    ggml_threadpool_free(threadpool_batch);
+    ggml_threadpool_free_fn(threadpool);
+    ggml_threadpool_free_fn(threadpool_batch);
 
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/examples/simple-chat/simple-chat.cpp b/examples/simple-chat/simple-chat.cpp
index 5f9973163..7f4da666b 100644
--- a/examples/simple-chat/simple-chat.cpp
+++ b/examples/simple-chat/simple-chat.cpp
@@ -62,6 +62,9 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
         }
     }, nullptr);
 
+    // load dynamic backends
+    ggml_backend_load_all();
+
     // initialize the model
     llama_model_params model_params = llama_model_default_params();
     model_params.n_gpu_layers = ngl;
diff --git a/examples/simple/simple.cpp b/examples/simple/simple.cpp
index 59760fe95..3288c0250 100644
--- a/examples/simple/simple.cpp
+++ b/examples/simple/simple.cpp
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
         }
     }
 
+    // load dynamic backends
+
+    ggml_backend_load_all();
+
     // initialize the model
 
     llama_model_params model_params = llama_model_default_params();
diff --git a/ggml/CMakeLists.txt b/ggml/CMakeLists.txt
index 2d32da1b6..70b5cfdf7 100644
--- a/ggml/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ggml/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "ggml: build shared libraries" ${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS_DEFAULT})
+option(GGML_BACKEND_DL   "ggml: build backends as dynamic libraries (requires BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)" OFF)
 
 #
 # option list
diff --git a/ggml/include/ggml-backend.h b/ggml/include/ggml-backend.h
index cef164764..d9aca71ae 100644
--- a/ggml/include/ggml-backend.h
+++ b/ggml/include/ggml-backend.h
@@ -190,6 +190,14 @@ extern "C" {
     typedef void                         (*ggml_backend_set_n_threads_t)(ggml_backend_t backend, int n_threads);
     // Get additional buffer types provided by the device (returns a NULL-terminated array)
     typedef ggml_backend_buffer_type_t * (*ggml_backend_dev_get_extra_bufts_t)(ggml_backend_dev_t device);
+    // Set the abort callback for the backend
+    typedef void                         (*ggml_backend_set_abort_callback_t)(ggml_backend_t backend, ggml_abort_callback abort_callback, void * abort_callback_data);
+    // Get a list of feature flags supported by the backend (returns a NULL-terminated array)
+    struct ggml_backend_feature {
+        const char * name;
+        const char * value;
+    };
+    typedef struct ggml_backend_feature * (*ggml_backend_get_features_t)(ggml_backend_reg_t reg);
 
     //
     // Backend registry
@@ -214,6 +222,11 @@ extern "C" {
     // = ggml_backend_dev_init(ggml_backend_dev_by_type(GPU) OR ggml_backend_dev_by_type(CPU), NULL)
     GGML_API ggml_backend_t ggml_backend_init_best(void);
 
+    // Load a backend from a dynamic library
+    GGML_API ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_load(const char * path);
+    // Load all known backends from dynamic libraries
+    GGML_API void               ggml_backend_load_all(void);
+
     //
     // Backend scheduler
     //
diff --git a/ggml/include/ggml-cpu.h b/ggml/include/ggml-cpu.h
index 7571ef979..a5358d047 100644
--- a/ggml/include/ggml-cpu.h
+++ b/ggml/include/ggml-cpu.h
@@ -7,29 +7,6 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
-    // Scheduling priorities
-    enum ggml_sched_priority {
-        GGML_SCHED_PRIO_NORMAL,
-        GGML_SCHED_PRIO_MEDIUM,
-        GGML_SCHED_PRIO_HIGH,
-        GGML_SCHED_PRIO_REALTIME
-    };
-
-    // Threadpool params
-    // Use ggml_threadpool_params_default() or ggml_threadpool_params_init() to populate the defaults
-    struct ggml_threadpool_params {
-        bool                cpumask[GGML_MAX_N_THREADS]; // mask of cpu cores (all-zeros means use default affinity settings)
-        int                 n_threads;                   // number of threads
-        enum ggml_sched_priority prio;                   // thread priority
-        uint32_t            poll;                        // polling level (0 - no polling, 100 - aggressive polling)
-        bool                strict_cpu;                  // strict cpu placement
-        bool                paused;                      // start in paused state
-    };
-
-    struct ggml_threadpool;     // forward declaration, see ggml.c
-
-    typedef struct ggml_threadpool * ggml_threadpool_t;
-
     // the compute plan that needs to be prepared for ggml_graph_compute()
     // since https://github.com/ggerganov/ggml/issues/287
     struct ggml_cplan {
@@ -75,14 +52,11 @@ extern "C" {
     GGML_BACKEND_API float   ggml_get_f32_nd(const struct ggml_tensor * tensor, int i0, int i1, int i2, int i3);
     GGML_BACKEND_API void    ggml_set_f32_nd(const struct ggml_tensor * tensor, int i0, int i1, int i2, int i3, float value);
 
-    GGML_BACKEND_API struct ggml_threadpool_params ggml_threadpool_params_default(int n_threads);
-    GGML_BACKEND_API void                          ggml_threadpool_params_init   (struct ggml_threadpool_params * p, int n_threads);
-    GGML_BACKEND_API bool                          ggml_threadpool_params_match  (const struct ggml_threadpool_params * p0, const struct ggml_threadpool_params * p1);
-    GGML_BACKEND_API struct ggml_threadpool *      ggml_threadpool_new          (struct ggml_threadpool_params  * params);
-    GGML_BACKEND_API void                          ggml_threadpool_free         (struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool);
-    GGML_BACKEND_API int                           ggml_threadpool_get_n_threads(struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool);
-    GGML_BACKEND_API void                          ggml_threadpool_pause        (struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool);
-    GGML_BACKEND_API void                          ggml_threadpool_resume       (struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool);
+    GGML_BACKEND_API struct ggml_threadpool *      ggml_threadpool_new           (struct ggml_threadpool_params  * params);
+    GGML_BACKEND_API void                          ggml_threadpool_free          (struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool);
+    GGML_BACKEND_API int                           ggml_threadpool_get_n_threads (struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool);
+    GGML_BACKEND_API void                          ggml_threadpool_pause         (struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool);
+    GGML_BACKEND_API void                          ggml_threadpool_resume        (struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool);
 
     // ggml_graph_plan() has to be called before ggml_graph_compute()
     // when plan.work_size > 0, caller must allocate memory for plan.work_data
@@ -104,10 +78,10 @@ extern "C" {
     GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_sse3       (void);
     GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_ssse3      (void);
     GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_avx        (void);
+    GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_avx_vnni   (void);
     GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_avx2       (void);
     GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_f16c       (void);
     GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_fma        (void);
-    GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_avx_vnni   (void);
     GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_avx512     (void);
     GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_avx512_vbmi(void);
     GGML_BACKEND_API int ggml_cpu_has_avx512_vnni(void);
diff --git a/ggml/include/ggml.h b/ggml/include/ggml.h
index 69e6a2434..9843b09fb 100644
--- a/ggml/include/ggml.h
+++ b/ggml/include/ggml.h
@@ -2215,6 +2215,37 @@ extern "C" {
 
     GGML_API const struct ggml_type_traits * ggml_get_type_traits(enum ggml_type type);
 
+    // ggml threadpool
+    // TODO: currently, only a few functions are in the base ggml API, while the rest are in the CPU backend
+    // the goal should be to create an API that other backends can use move everything to the ggml base
+
+    // scheduling priorities
+    enum ggml_sched_priority {
+        GGML_SCHED_PRIO_NORMAL,
+        GGML_SCHED_PRIO_MEDIUM,
+        GGML_SCHED_PRIO_HIGH,
+        GGML_SCHED_PRIO_REALTIME
+    };
+
+    // threadpool params
+    // Use ggml_threadpool_params_default() or ggml_threadpool_params_init() to populate the defaults
+    struct ggml_threadpool_params {
+        bool                cpumask[GGML_MAX_N_THREADS]; // mask of cpu cores (all-zeros means use default affinity settings)
+        int                 n_threads;                   // number of threads
+        enum ggml_sched_priority prio;                   // thread priority
+        uint32_t            poll;                        // polling level (0 - no polling, 100 - aggressive polling)
+        bool                strict_cpu;                  // strict cpu placement
+        bool                paused;                      // start in paused state
+    };
+
+    struct ggml_threadpool;     // forward declaration, see ggml.c
+
+    typedef struct ggml_threadpool * ggml_threadpool_t;
+
+    GGML_API struct ggml_threadpool_params ggml_threadpool_params_default(int n_threads);
+    GGML_API void                          ggml_threadpool_params_init   (struct ggml_threadpool_params * p, int n_threads);
+    GGML_API bool                          ggml_threadpool_params_match  (const struct ggml_threadpool_params * p0, const struct ggml_threadpool_params * p1);
+
 #ifdef  __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/ggml/src/CMakeLists.txt b/ggml/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 8df0e85c0..c506a413d 100644
--- a/ggml/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ggml/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -202,6 +202,10 @@ endif()
 
 # ggml
 
+if (GGML_BACKEND_DL)
+    add_compile_definitions(GGML_BACKEND_DL)
+endif()
+
 add_library(ggml-base
             ../include/ggml.h
             ../include/ggml-alloc.h
@@ -239,11 +243,18 @@ function(ggml_add_backend backend)
             if (${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS})
                 target_compile_definitions(${backend_target} PRIVATE GGML_BACKEND_BUILD)
                 target_compile_definitions(${backend_target} PUBLIC  GGML_BACKEND_SHARED)
+                if (GGML_BACKEND_DL)
+                    target_compile_definitions(${backend_target} PRIVATE GGML_BACKEND_DL)
+                endif()
+            endif()
+            if (GGML_BACKEND_DL)
+                install(TARGETS ${backend_target} RUNTIME)
+            else()
+                install(TARGETS ${backend_target} LIBRARY)
+                target_link_libraries(ggml PUBLIC ${backend_target})
+                string(TOUPPER "GGML_USE_${backend}" backend_use)
+                target_compile_definitions(ggml PUBLIC ${backend_use})
             endif()
-            install(TARGETS ${backend_target} LIBRARY)
-            target_link_libraries(ggml PUBLIC ${backend_target})
-            string(TOUPPER "GGML_USE_${backend}" backend_use)
-            target_compile_definitions(ggml PUBLIC ${backend_use})
         endif()
     endif()
 endfunction()
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-amx/ggml-amx.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-amx/ggml-amx.cpp
index 8568e7965..0e1326668 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-amx/ggml-amx.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-amx/ggml-amx.cpp
@@ -444,3 +444,5 @@ ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_amx_reg(void) {
 }
 
 #endif
+
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_amx_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-backend-impl.h b/ggml/src/ggml-backend-impl.h
index fa8d5b7fb..e22ddbb02 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-backend-impl.h
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-backend-impl.h
@@ -204,12 +204,30 @@ extern "C" {
         void * context;
     };
 
-
     // Internal backend registry API
     void ggml_backend_register(ggml_backend_reg_t reg);
     void ggml_backend_device_register(ggml_backend_dev_t device);
-    // TODO: backends can be loaded as a dynamic library, in which case it needs to export this function
-    // typedef ggml_backend_register_t * (*ggml_backend_init)(void);
+
+    // Add backend dynamic loading support to the backend
+    #ifdef GGML_BACKEND_DL
+        #ifdef __cplusplus
+        #    define GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(reg_fn)                             \
+                extern "C" {                                                 \
+                    GGML_BACKEND_API ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_init(); \
+                }                                                            \
+                ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_init() {                     \
+                    return reg_fn();                                         \
+                }
+        #else
+        #    define GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(reg_fn)                          \
+                GGML_BACKEND_API ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_init();  \
+                ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_init() {                  \
+                    return reg_fn();                                      \
+                }
+        #endif
+    #else
+    #    define GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(reg_fn)
+    #endif
 
 #ifdef  __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-backend-reg.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-backend-reg.cpp
index 63e9d8201..6b68c956c 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-backend-reg.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-backend-reg.cpp
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 #include "ggml-backend-impl.h"
 #include "ggml-backend.h"
-#include "ggml-cpu.h"
 #include "ggml-impl.h"
 #include <cstring>
 #include <vector>
 
 // Backend registry
+#ifdef GGML_USE_CPU
+#include "ggml-cpu.h"
+#endif
 
 #ifdef GGML_USE_CUDA
 #include "ggml-cuda.h"
@@ -75,8 +77,9 @@ struct ggml_backend_registry {
 #ifdef GGML_USE_KOMPUTE
         register_backend(ggml_backend_kompute_reg());
 #endif
-
+#ifdef GGML_USE_CPU
         register_backend(ggml_backend_cpu_reg());
+#endif
     }
 
     void register_backend(ggml_backend_reg_t reg) {
@@ -193,3 +196,86 @@ ggml_backend_t ggml_backend_init_best(void) {
     }
     return ggml_backend_dev_init(dev, NULL);
 }
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#    define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+#    ifndef NOMINMAX
+#        define NOMINMAX
+#    endif
+#    include <windows.h>
+#else
+#    include <dlfcn.h>
+#endif
+
+typedef ggml_backend_reg_t (*ggml_backend_init_t)(void);
+
+ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_load(const char * path) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    HMODULE handle = LoadLibraryA(path);
+    if (!handle) {
+        GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to load %s: %lu\n", __func__, path, GetLastError());
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    ggml_backend_init_t backend_init = (ggml_backend_init_t) GetProcAddress(handle, "ggml_backend_init");
+    if (!backend_init) {
+        GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to find ggml_backend_init in %s: %lu\n", __func__, path, GetLastError());
+        FreeLibrary(handle);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    ggml_backend_reg_t reg = backend_init();
+    if (!reg) {
+        GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to initialize backend from %s\n", __func__, path);
+        FreeLibrary(handle);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    GGML_LOG_DEBUG("%s: loaded %s backend from %s\n", __func__, ggml_backend_reg_name(reg), path);
+    ggml_backend_register(reg);
+    return reg;
+#else
+    void * handle = dlopen(path, RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL);
+    if (!handle) {
+        GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to load %s: %s\n", __func__, path, dlerror());
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    auto * backend_init = (ggml_backend_init_t) dlsym(handle, "ggml_backend_init");
+    if (!backend_init) {
+        GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to find ggml_backend_init in %s: %s\n", __func__, path, dlerror());
+        dlclose(handle);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    ggml_backend_reg_t reg = backend_init();
+    if (!reg) {
+        GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to initialize backend from %s\n", __func__, path);
+        dlclose(handle);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    GGML_LOG_DEBUG("%s: loaded %s backend from %s\n", __func__, ggml_backend_reg_name(reg), path);
+    ggml_backend_register(reg);
+    return reg;
+#endif
+}
+
+void ggml_backend_load_all() {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    #define GGML_BACKEND_PATH(backend) "ggml-" backend ".dll"
+#elif defined(__APPLE__)
+    // path is hardcoded to the cmake build directory for now
+    // FIXME: should also search default system paths
+    #define GGML_BACKEND_PATH(backend) "build/ggml/src/ggml-" backend "/libggml-" backend ".dylib"
+#else
+    #define GGML_BACKEND_PATH(backend) "build/ggml/src/ggml-" backend "/libggml-" backend ".so"
+#endif
+
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("amx"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("blas"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("cann"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("cuda"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("hip"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("kompute"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("metal"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("rpc"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("sycl"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("vulkan"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("musa"));
+    ggml_backend_load(GGML_BACKEND_PATH("cpu"));
+}
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-blas/ggml-blas.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-blas/ggml-blas.cpp
index 648c9d875..b3f804937 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-blas/ggml-blas.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-blas/ggml-blas.cpp
@@ -512,3 +512,5 @@ ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_blas_reg(void) {
 
     return &ggml_backend_blas_reg;
 }
+
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_blas_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-cann/ggml-cann.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-cann/ggml-cann.cpp
index 776340881..e592560c6 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-cann/ggml-cann.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-cann/ggml-cann.cpp
@@ -2126,3 +2126,5 @@ void ggml_backend_cann_get_device_memory(int32_t device, size_t* free,
     ggml_cann_set_device(device);
     ACL_CHECK(aclrtGetMemInfo(ACL_HBM_MEM, free, total));
 }
+
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_cann_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/ggml-cpu.c b/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/ggml-cpu.c
index 4b58254e7..c6ede19d9 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/ggml-cpu.c
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/ggml-cpu.c
@@ -13578,29 +13578,6 @@ static void ggml_graph_compute_kickoff(struct ggml_threadpool * threadpool, int
 
 #endif // GGML_USE_OPENMP
 
-void ggml_threadpool_params_init(struct ggml_threadpool_params * p, int n_threads) {
-    p->n_threads  = n_threads;
-    p->prio       = 0;     // default priority (usually means normal or inherited)
-    p->poll       = 50;    // hybrid-polling enabled
-    p->strict_cpu = false; // no strict placement (all threads share same cpumask)
-    p->paused     = false; // threads are ready to go
-    memset(p->cpumask, 0, GGML_MAX_N_THREADS); // all-zero means use the default affinity (usually inherited)
-}
-
-struct ggml_threadpool_params ggml_threadpool_params_default(int n_threads) {
-    struct ggml_threadpool_params p;
-    ggml_threadpool_params_init(&p, n_threads);
-    return p;
-}
-
-bool ggml_threadpool_params_match(const struct ggml_threadpool_params * p0, const struct ggml_threadpool_params * p1) {
-    if (p0->n_threads      != p1->n_threads  )    return false;
-    if (p0->prio           != p1->prio       )    return false;
-    if (p0->poll           != p1->poll       )    return false;
-    if (p0->strict_cpu     != p1->strict_cpu )    return false;
-    return memcmp(p0->cpumask, p1->cpumask, GGML_MAX_N_THREADS) == 0;
-}
-
 static struct ggml_threadpool * ggml_threadpool_new_impl(
     struct ggml_threadpool_params * tpp,
                struct ggml_cgraph * cgraph,
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/ggml-cpu.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/ggml-cpu.cpp
index 573b7c5b9..55f88992a 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/ggml-cpu.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/ggml-cpu.cpp
@@ -541,16 +541,12 @@ static ggml_backend_dev_t ggml_backend_cpu_reg_get_device(ggml_backend_reg_t reg
     return &ggml_backend_cpu_device;
 }
 
-struct ggml_backend_feature {
-    const char * name;
-    const char * value;
-};
-
-// Not used yet
 // This is intended to replace the the ggml_cpu_has_* functions when loading the CPU backend dynamically,
-// and additionally to allow other backends to expose their own list of features that applications can query using the same API.
+// and additionally to allow other backends to expose their own list of features that applications can query using the same API
 static ggml_backend_feature * ggml_backend_cpu_get_features(ggml_backend_reg_t reg) {
     static std::vector<ggml_backend_feature> features = []() {
+        ggml_cpu_init();
+
         std::vector<ggml_backend_feature> features;
         if (ggml_cpu_has_sse3()) {
             features.push_back({ "SSE3", "1" });
@@ -561,6 +557,9 @@ static ggml_backend_feature * ggml_backend_cpu_get_features(ggml_backend_reg_t r
         if (ggml_cpu_has_avx()) {
             features.push_back({ "AVX", "1" });
         }
+        if (ggml_cpu_has_avx_vnni()) {
+            features.push_back({ "AVX_VNNI", "1" });
+        }
         if (ggml_cpu_has_avx2()) {
             features.push_back({ "AVX2", "1" });
         }
@@ -570,9 +569,6 @@ static ggml_backend_feature * ggml_backend_cpu_get_features(ggml_backend_reg_t r
         if (ggml_cpu_has_fma()) {
             features.push_back({ "FMA", "1" });
         }
-        if (ggml_cpu_has_avx_vnni()) {
-            features.push_back({ "AVX_VNNI", "1" });
-        }
         if (ggml_cpu_has_avx512()) {
             features.push_back({ "AVX512", "1" });
         }
@@ -619,6 +615,10 @@ static ggml_backend_feature * ggml_backend_cpu_get_features(ggml_backend_reg_t r
         if (ggml_cpu_has_llamafile()) {
             features.push_back({ "LLAMAFILE", "1" });
         }
+        // TODO: rename this
+    #ifdef GGML_USE_CPU_AARCH64
+        features.push_back({ "AARCH64_REPACK", "1" });
+    #endif
 
         features.push_back({ nullptr, nullptr });
 
@@ -637,6 +637,29 @@ static void * ggml_backend_cpu_get_proc_address(ggml_backend_reg_t reg, const ch
     if (strcmp(name, "ggml_backend_dev_get_extra_bufts") == 0) {
         return (void *)ggml_backend_cpu_get_extra_bufts;
     }
+    if (strcmp(name, "ggml_backend_get_features") == 0) {
+        return (void *)ggml_backend_cpu_get_features;
+    }
+    if (strcmp(name, "ggml_backend_set_abort_callback") == 0) {
+        return (void *)ggml_backend_cpu_set_abort_callback;
+    }
+    if (strcmp(name, "ggml_backend_cpu_numa_init") == 0) {
+        return (void *)ggml_numa_init;
+    }
+    if (strcmp(name, "ggml_backend_cpu_is_numa") == 0) {
+        return (void *)ggml_is_numa;
+    }
+
+    // threadpool - TODO:  move to ggml-base
+    if (strcmp(name, "ggml_threadpool_new") == 0) {
+        return (void *)ggml_threadpool_new;
+    }
+    if (strcmp(name, "ggml_threadpool_free") == 0) {
+        return (void *)ggml_threadpool_free;
+    }
+    if (strcmp(name, "ggml_backend_cpu_set_threadpool") == 0) {
+        return (void *)ggml_backend_cpu_set_threadpool;
+    }
 
     return NULL;
 
@@ -661,3 +684,5 @@ ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_cpu_reg(void) {
 
     return &ggml_backend_cpu_reg;
 }
+
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_cpu_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-cuda/ggml-cuda.cu b/ggml/src/ggml-cuda/ggml-cuda.cu
index dd94ab03d..a66b3a9f3 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-cuda/ggml-cuda.cu
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-cuda/ggml-cuda.cu
@@ -3126,6 +3126,61 @@ static ggml_backend_dev_t ggml_backend_cuda_reg_get_device(ggml_backend_reg_t re
     return ctx->devices[index];
 }
 
+static ggml_backend_feature * ggml_backend_cuda_get_features(ggml_backend_reg_t reg) {
+    static std::vector<ggml_backend_feature> features = []() {
+        std::vector<ggml_backend_feature> features;
+    #define _STRINGIFY(...) #__VA_ARGS__
+    #define STRINGIFY(...) _STRINGIFY(__VA_ARGS__)
+
+    #ifdef __CUDA_ARCH_LIST__
+        features.push_back({ "ARCHS", STRINGIFY(__CUDA_ARCH_LIST__) });
+    #endif
+
+    #ifdef GGML_CUDA_FORCE_MMQ
+        features.push_back({ "FORCE_MMQ", "1" });
+    #endif
+
+    #ifdef GGML_CUDA_FORCE_CUBLAS
+        features.push_back({ "FORCE_CUBLAS", "1" });
+    #endif
+
+    #ifdef GGML_CUDA_NO_VMM
+        features.push_back({ "NO_VMM", "1" });
+    #endif
+
+    #ifdef GGML_CUDA_NO_PEER_COPY
+        features.push_back({ "NO_PEER_COPY", "1" });
+    #endif
+
+    #ifdef GGML_CUDA_F16
+        features.push_back({ "F16", "1" });
+    #endif
+
+    #ifdef GGML_CUDA_USE_GRAPHS
+        features.push_back({ "USE_GRAPHS", "1" });
+    #endif
+
+    #ifdef GGML_CUDA_PEER_MAX_BATCH_SIZE
+        features.push_back({ "PEER_MAX_BATCH_SIZE", STRINGIFY(GGML_CUDA_PEER_MAX_BATCH_SIZE) });
+    #endif
+
+    #ifdef GGML_CUDA_FA_ALL_QUANTS
+        features.push_back({ "FA_ALL_QUANTS", "1" });
+    #endif
+
+    #undef _STRINGIFY
+    #undef STRINGIFY
+
+        features.push_back({ nullptr, nullptr });
+
+        return features;
+    }();
+
+    return features.data();
+
+    GGML_UNUSED(reg);
+}
+
 static void * ggml_backend_cuda_reg_get_proc_address(ggml_backend_reg_t reg, const char * name) {
     GGML_UNUSED(reg);
     if (strcmp(name, "ggml_backend_split_buffer_type") == 0) {
@@ -3137,6 +3192,9 @@ static void * ggml_backend_cuda_reg_get_proc_address(ggml_backend_reg_t reg, con
     if (strcmp(name, "ggml_backend_unregister_host_buffer") == 0) {
         return (void *)ggml_backend_cuda_unregister_host_buffer;
     }
+    if (strcmp(name, "ggml_backend_get_features") == 0) {
+        return (void *)ggml_backend_cuda_get_features;
+    }
     return nullptr;
 }
 
@@ -3209,3 +3267,5 @@ ggml_backend_t ggml_backend_cuda_init(int device) {
 
     return cuda_backend;
 }
+
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_cuda_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-kompute/ggml-kompute.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-kompute/ggml-kompute.cpp
index 2fea9e4cc..c2a7b6afa 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-kompute/ggml-kompute.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-kompute/ggml-kompute.cpp
@@ -2182,3 +2182,5 @@ ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_kompute_reg() {
 
     return &reg;
 }
+
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_kompute_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-metal/ggml-metal.m b/ggml/src/ggml-metal/ggml-metal.m
index d1abb3cef..1b1967f94 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-metal/ggml-metal.m
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-metal/ggml-metal.m
@@ -4396,3 +4396,5 @@ ggml_backend_reg_t ggml_backend_metal_reg(void) {
 
     return &g_ggml_backend_metal_reg;
 }
+
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_metal_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp
index 47357daab..31c1313b9 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/ggml-rpc.cpp
@@ -1401,3 +1401,5 @@ ggml_backend_dev_t ggml_backend_rpc_add_device(const char * endpoint) {
 
     return dev;
 }
+
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_rpc_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/ggml-sycl.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/ggml-sycl.cpp
index 255bc64c6..f36640fd6 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/ggml-sycl.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-sycl/ggml-sycl.cpp
@@ -4678,3 +4678,4 @@ ggml_backend_t ggml_backend_sycl_init(int device) {
     return sycl_backend;
 }
 
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_sycl_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-vulkan/ggml-vulkan.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-vulkan/ggml-vulkan.cpp
index ca71da2f7..f9e5fabfa 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-vulkan/ggml-vulkan.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-vulkan/ggml-vulkan.cpp
@@ -7365,3 +7365,5 @@ static void ggml_vk_check_results_1(ggml_tensor * tensor) {
     VK_LOG_DEBUG("END ggml_vk_check_results_1(" << tensor->name << ")");
 }
 #endif
+
+GGML_BACKEND_DL_IMPL(ggml_backend_vk_reg)
diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml.c b/ggml/src/ggml.c
index 78e7874de..1a2318cb1 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml.c
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml.c
@@ -7571,3 +7571,26 @@ void ggml_log_set(ggml_log_callback log_callback, void * user_data) {
     g_logger_state.log_callback = log_callback ? log_callback : ggml_log_callback_default;
     g_logger_state.log_callback_user_data = user_data;
 }
+
+void ggml_threadpool_params_init(struct ggml_threadpool_params * p, int n_threads) {
+    p->n_threads  = n_threads;
+    p->prio       = 0;     // default priority (usually means normal or inherited)
+    p->poll       = 50;    // hybrid-polling enabled
+    p->strict_cpu = false; // no strict placement (all threads share same cpumask)
+    p->paused     = false; // threads are ready to go
+    memset(p->cpumask, 0, GGML_MAX_N_THREADS); // all-zero means use the default affinity (usually inherited)
+}
+
+struct ggml_threadpool_params ggml_threadpool_params_default(int n_threads) {
+    struct ggml_threadpool_params p;
+    ggml_threadpool_params_init(&p, n_threads);
+    return p;
+}
+
+bool ggml_threadpool_params_match(const struct ggml_threadpool_params * p0, const struct ggml_threadpool_params * p1) {
+    if (p0->n_threads      != p1->n_threads  )    return false;
+    if (p0->prio           != p1->prio       )    return false;
+    if (p0->poll           != p1->poll       )    return false;
+    if (p0->strict_cpu     != p1->strict_cpu )    return false;
+    return memcmp(p0->cpumask, p1->cpumask, GGML_MAX_N_THREADS) == 0;
+}
diff --git a/pocs/CMakeLists.txt b/pocs/CMakeLists.txt
index 03e1d2c04..d49d14dee 100644
--- a/pocs/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/pocs/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,5 +8,7 @@ include_directories(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
 
 if (EMSCRIPTEN)
 else()
-    add_subdirectory(vdot)
+    if (NOT GGML_BACKEND_DL)
+        add_subdirectory(vdot)
+    endif()
 endif()
diff --git a/src/llama.cpp b/src/llama.cpp
index 001711037..88a802dfb 100644
--- a/src/llama.cpp
+++ b/src/llama.cpp
@@ -4866,7 +4866,9 @@ struct llama_model_loader {
             mappings.reserve(files.size());
             mmaps_used.reserve(files.size());
             for (const auto & file : files) {
-                std::unique_ptr<llama_mmap> mapping(new llama_mmap(file.get(), prefetch ? -1 : 0, ggml_is_numa()));
+                auto * reg = ggml_backend_dev_backend_reg(ggml_backend_dev_by_type(GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU));
+                auto * is_numa_fn = (decltype(ggml_is_numa) *) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(reg, "ggml_backend_cpu_is_numa");
+                std::unique_ptr<llama_mmap> mapping(new llama_mmap(file.get(), prefetch ? -1 : 0, is_numa_fn()));
                 mmaps_used.emplace_back(mapping->size, 0);
                 if (mlock_mmaps) {
                     std::unique_ptr<llama_mlock> mlock_mmap(new llama_mlock());
@@ -9190,7 +9192,7 @@ static bool llm_load_tensors(
         ggml_backend_dev_t dev = ggml_backend_buft_get_device(buft);
         if (!dev) {
             // FIXME: workaround for CPU backend buft having a NULL device
-            dev = ggml_backend_reg_dev_get(ggml_backend_cpu_reg(), 0);
+            dev = ggml_backend_dev_by_type(GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU);
         }
         ggml_backend_dev_props props;
         ggml_backend_dev_get_props(dev, &props);
@@ -17443,8 +17445,9 @@ static enum ggml_status llama_graph_compute(
                     int   n_threads,
         ggml_threadpool * threadpool) {
     if (lctx.backend_cpu != nullptr) {
-        ggml_backend_cpu_set_threadpool(lctx.backend_cpu, threadpool);
-        ggml_backend_cpu_set_abort_callback(lctx.backend_cpu, lctx.abort_callback, lctx.abort_callback_data);
+        auto * reg = ggml_backend_dev_backend_reg(ggml_backend_get_device(lctx.backend_cpu));
+        auto * set_threadpool_fn = (decltype(ggml_backend_cpu_set_threadpool) *) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(reg, "ggml_backend_cpu_set_threadpool");
+        set_threadpool_fn(lctx.backend_cpu, threadpool);
     }
 
     // set the number of threads for all the backends
@@ -19478,7 +19481,11 @@ void llama_backend_init(void) {
 
 void llama_numa_init(enum ggml_numa_strategy numa) {
     if (numa != GGML_NUMA_STRATEGY_DISABLED) {
-        ggml_numa_init(numa);
+        auto * dev = ggml_backend_dev_by_type(GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU);
+        GGML_ASSERT(dev && "CPU backend is not loaded");
+        auto * reg = ggml_backend_dev_backend_reg(dev);
+        auto * numa_init_fn = (decltype(ggml_numa_init) *) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(reg, "ggml_backend_cpu_numa_init");
+        numa_init_fn(numa);
     }
 }
 
@@ -19752,9 +19759,6 @@ struct llama_context * llama_new_context_with_model(
                 __func__, n_ctx_per_seq, hparams.n_ctx_train);
     }
 
-    ctx->abort_callback      = params.abort_callback;
-    ctx->abort_callback_data = params.abort_callback_data;
-
     ctx->logits_all = params.logits_all;
 
     // build worst-case graph for encoder if a model contains encoder
@@ -19803,7 +19807,7 @@ struct llama_context * llama_new_context_with_model(
         }
 
         // add CPU backend
-        ctx->backend_cpu = ggml_backend_cpu_init();
+        ctx->backend_cpu = ggml_backend_init_by_type(GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU, nullptr);
         if (ctx->backend_cpu == nullptr) {
             LLAMA_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to initialize CPU backend\n", __func__);
             llama_free(ctx);
@@ -19823,6 +19827,8 @@ struct llama_context * llama_new_context_with_model(
             }
         }
 
+        llama_set_abort_callback(ctx, params.abort_callback, params.abort_callback_data);
+
         if (!llama_kv_cache_init(ctx->kv_self, ctx, type_k, type_v, kv_size, cparams.offload_kqv)) {
             LLAMA_LOG_ERROR("%s: llama_kv_cache_init() failed for self-attention cache\n", __func__);
             llama_free(ctx);
@@ -19868,7 +19874,8 @@ struct llama_context * llama_new_context_with_model(
             std::vector<ggml_backend_t> backend_ptrs;
             for (auto & backend : ctx->backends) {
                 auto * buft = ggml_backend_get_default_buffer_type(backend.get());
-                if (ggml_backend_is_cpu(backend.get()) && !model->devices.empty()) {
+                auto backend_type = ggml_backend_dev_type(ggml_backend_get_device(backend.get()));
+                if (backend_type == GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU && !model->devices.empty()) {
                     // use the host buffer of the first device CPU for faster transfer of the intermediate state
                     auto * dev = model->devices[0];
                     auto * host_buft = ggml_backend_dev_host_buffer_type(dev);
@@ -19896,7 +19903,8 @@ struct llama_context * llama_new_context_with_model(
             // pipeline parallelism requires support for async compute and events in all devices
             if (pipeline_parallel) {
                 for (auto & backend : ctx->backends) {
-                    if (ggml_backend_is_cpu(backend.get())) {
+                    auto dev_type = ggml_backend_dev_type(ggml_backend_get_device(backend.get()));
+                    if (dev_type == GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU) {
                         // ignore CPU backend
                         continue;
                     }
@@ -21450,6 +21458,14 @@ int32_t llama_n_threads_batch(struct llama_context * ctx) {
 void llama_set_abort_callback(struct llama_context * ctx, bool (*abort_callback)(void * data), void * abort_callback_data) {
     ctx->abort_callback      = abort_callback;
     ctx->abort_callback_data = abort_callback_data;
+
+    for (auto & backend : ctx->backends) {
+        auto * reg = ggml_backend_dev_backend_reg(ggml_backend_get_device(backend.get()));
+        auto * set_abort_callback_fn = (ggml_backend_set_abort_callback_t) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(reg, "ggml_backend_set_abort_callback");
+        if (set_abort_callback_fn) {
+            set_abort_callback_fn(backend.get(), ctx->abort_callback, ctx->abort_callback_data);
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 void llama_set_embeddings(struct llama_context * ctx, bool embeddings) {
@@ -22191,32 +22207,23 @@ int llama_split_prefix(char * dest, size_t maxlen, const char * split_path, int
 }
 
 const char * llama_print_system_info(void) {
-    ggml_cpu_init(); // some ARM features are detected at runtime
-
     static std::string s;
 
-    s  = "";
-    s += "AVX = "         + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_avx())         + " | ";
-    s += "AVX_VNNI = "    + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_avx_vnni())    + " | ";
-    s += "AVX2 = "        + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_avx2())        + " | ";
-    s += "AVX512 = "      + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_avx512())      + " | ";
-    s += "AVX512_VBMI = " + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_avx512_vbmi()) + " | ";
-    s += "AVX512_VNNI = " + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_avx512_vnni()) + " | ";
-    s += "AVX512_BF16 = " + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_avx512_bf16()) + " | ";
-    s += "AMX_INT8 = "    + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_amx_int8())    + " | ";
-    s += "FMA = "         + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_fma())         + " | ";
-    s += "NEON = "        + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_neon())        + " | ";
-    s += "SVE = "         + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_sve())         + " | ";
-    s += "ARM_FMA = "     + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_arm_fma())     + " | ";
-    s += "F16C = "        + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_f16c())        + " | ";
-    s += "FP16_VA = "     + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_fp16_va())     + " | ";
-    s += "RISCV_VECT = "  + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_riscv_v())     + " | ";
-    s += "WASM_SIMD = "   + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_wasm_simd())   + " | ";
-    s += "SSE3 = "        + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_sse3())        + " | ";
-    s += "SSSE3 = "       + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_ssse3())       + " | ";
-    s += "VSX = "         + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_vsx())         + " | ";
-    s += "MATMUL_INT8 = " + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_matmul_int8()) + " | ";
-    s += "LLAMAFILE = "   + std::to_string(ggml_cpu_has_llamafile())   + " | ";
+    for (int i = 0; i < ggml_backend_reg_count(); i++) {
+        auto * reg = ggml_backend_reg_get(i);
+        auto * get_features_fn = (ggml_backend_get_features_t) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(reg, "ggml_backend_get_features");
+        if (get_features_fn) {
+            ggml_backend_feature * features = get_features_fn(reg);
+            s += ggml_backend_reg_name(reg);
+            s += " : ";
+            for (; features->name; features++) {
+                s += features->name;
+                s += " = ";
+                s += features->value;
+                s += " | ";
+            }
+        }
+    }
 
     return s.c_str();
 }
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index b06f122e8..82373ff4e 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -110,23 +110,26 @@ llama_test(test-tokenizer-1-spm  NAME test-tokenizer-1-llama-spm ARGS ${CMAKE_CU
 # llama_target_and_test(test-double-float.cpp) # SLOW
 llama_target_and_test(test-log.cpp)
 llama_target_and_test(test-arg-parser.cpp)
-llama_target_and_test(test-quantize-fns.cpp)
-llama_target_and_test(test-quantize-perf.cpp)
 llama_target_and_test(test-sampling.cpp)
 llama_target_and_test(test-chat-template.cpp)
 
 llama_target_and_test(test-grammar-parser.cpp)
 llama_target_and_test(test-grammar-integration.cpp)
 llama_target_and_test(test-llama-grammar.cpp)
-llama_target_and_test(test-barrier.cpp)
 # llama_target_and_test(test-opt.cpp) # SLOW
 llama_target_and_test(test-backend-ops.cpp)
 
-llama_target_and_test(test-rope.cpp)
-
 llama_target_and_test(test-model-load-cancel.cpp  LABEL "model")
 llama_target_and_test(test-autorelease.cpp        LABEL "model")
 
+if (NOT GGML_BACKEND_DL)
+    # these tests use the backends directly and cannot be built with dynamic loading
+    llama_target_and_test(test-barrier.cpp)
+    llama_target_and_test(test-quantize-fns.cpp)
+    llama_target_and_test(test-quantize-perf.cpp)
+    llama_target_and_test(test-rope.cpp)
+endif()
+
 # TODO: disabled on loongarch64 because the ggml-ci node lacks Python 3.8
 if (NOT ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} MATCHES "loongarch64")
     llama_target_and_test(test-json-schema-to-grammar.cpp   WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/..)
diff --git a/tests/test-backend-ops.cpp b/tests/test-backend-ops.cpp
index b2b570524..6376b0e4c 100644
--- a/tests/test-backend-ops.cpp
+++ b/tests/test-backend-ops.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 
 #include <ggml.h>
-#include <ggml-cpu.h>
 #include <ggml-alloc.h>
 #include <ggml-backend.h>
 
@@ -26,7 +25,6 @@
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <cinttypes>
-#include <functional>
 #include <memory>
 #include <random>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -639,19 +637,20 @@ struct test_case {
 
         // determine number of runs
         int n_runs;
+        bool is_cpu = ggml_backend_dev_type(ggml_backend_get_device(backend)) == GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU;
         if (op_flops(out) > 0) {
             // based on flops
             const uint64_t GFLOP = 1000 * 1000 * 1000;
             const uint64_t target_flops_cpu =   8ULL * GFLOP;
             const uint64_t target_flops_gpu = 100ULL * GFLOP;
-            uint64_t target_flops = ggml_backend_is_cpu(backend) ? target_flops_cpu : target_flops_gpu;
+            uint64_t target_flops = is_cpu ? target_flops_cpu : target_flops_gpu;
             n_runs = std::min<int>(ggml_graph_size(gf) - ggml_graph_n_nodes(gf), target_flops / op_flops(out)) + 1;
         } else {
             // based on memory size
             const size_t GB = 1ULL << 30;
             const size_t target_size_cpu =  8 * GB;
             const size_t target_size_gpu = 32 * GB;
-            size_t target_size = ggml_backend_is_cpu(backend) ? target_size_cpu : target_size_gpu;
+            size_t target_size = is_cpu ? target_size_cpu : target_size_gpu;
             n_runs = std::min<int>(ggml_graph_size(gf) - ggml_graph_n_nodes(gf), target_size / op_size(out)) + 1;
         }
 
@@ -3873,7 +3872,11 @@ static std::vector<std::unique_ptr<test_case>> make_test_cases_perf() {
 static bool test_backend(ggml_backend_t backend, test_mode mode, const char * op_name) {
     if (mode == MODE_TEST) {
         auto test_cases = make_test_cases_eval();
-        ggml_backend_t backend_cpu = ggml_backend_cpu_init();
+        ggml_backend_t backend_cpu = ggml_backend_init_by_type(GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU, NULL);
+        if (backend_cpu == NULL) {
+            printf("  Failed to initialize CPU backend\n");
+            return false;
+        }
 
         size_t n_ok = 0;
         for (auto & test : test_cases) {
@@ -3953,7 +3956,9 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
         }
     }
 
-    // enumerate backends
+    // load and enumerate backends
+    ggml_backend_load_all();
+
     printf("Testing %zu devices\n\n", ggml_backend_dev_count());
 
     size_t n_ok = 0;
@@ -3969,16 +3974,15 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
             continue;
         }
 
-        ggml_backend_t backend = ggml_backend_dev_init(dev, NULL);
-        GGML_ASSERT(backend != NULL);
-
-        if (backend_filter == NULL && ggml_backend_is_cpu(backend) && mode != MODE_GRAD) {
+        if (backend_filter == NULL && ggml_backend_dev_type(dev) == GGML_BACKEND_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU && mode != MODE_GRAD) {
             printf("  Skipping CPU backend\n");
-            ggml_backend_free(backend);
             n_ok++;
             continue;
         }
 
+        ggml_backend_t backend = ggml_backend_dev_init(dev, NULL);
+        GGML_ASSERT(backend != NULL);
+
         ggml_backend_reg_t reg = ggml_backend_dev_backend_reg(dev);
         auto ggml_backend_set_n_threads_fn = (ggml_backend_set_n_threads_t) ggml_backend_reg_get_proc_address(reg, "ggml_backend_set_n_threads");
         if (ggml_backend_set_n_threads_fn) {