diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/build_system/tools/shader_compiler.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/build_system/tools/shader_compiler.dart
index 14089a9357e7c..48869380bd697 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/build_system/tools/shader_compiler.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/build_system/tools/shader_compiler.dart
@@ -173,9 +173,9 @@ class ShaderCompiler {
     }
 
     final String shaderLibPath = _fs.path.join(impellerc.parent.absolute.path, 'shader_lib');
-    final cmd = <String>[
+    List<String> makeImpellercCommand(List<String> targets) => <String>[
       impellerc.path,
-      ..._shaderTargetsFromTargetPlatform(targetPlatform),
+      ...targets,
       '--iplr',
       if (targetPlatform == TargetPlatform.web_javascript) '--json',
       '--sl=$outputPath',
@@ -185,18 +185,64 @@ class ShaderCompiler {
       '--include=${input.parent.path}',
       '--include=$shaderLibPath',
     ];
-    _logger.printTrace('shaderc command: $cmd');
-    final Process impellercProcess = await _processManager.start(cmd);
-    final int code = await impellercProcess.exitCode;
-    if (code != 0) {
-      final String stdout = await utf8.decodeStream(impellercProcess.stdout);
-      final String stderr = await utf8.decodeStream(impellercProcess.stderr);
-      _logger.printTrace(stdout);
-      _logger.printError(stderr);
+
+    var failure = false;
+    var retryWithoutSksl = false;
+
+    final List<String> shaderTargets = _shaderTargetsFromTargetPlatform(targetPlatform);
+    final List<String> cmd = makeImpellercCommand(shaderTargets);
+    _logger.printTrace('impellerc command: $cmd');
+    final ProcessResult result = await _processManager.run(
+      cmd,
+      stderrEncoding: utf8,
+      stdoutEncoding: utf8,
+    );
+    if (result.exitCode != 0) {
+
+      // Maybe retry impellerc command without --sksl.
+      if (!(shaderTargets.length > 1 && shaderTargets.contains('--sksl'))) {
+        // The original command did not target sksl or targeted only sksl, so
+        // we can't retry without --sksl.
+        _logger.printTrace((result.stdout as String).trim());
+        _logger.printError((result.stderr as String).trim());
+        failure = true;
+      } else {
+        retryWithoutSksl = true;
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (retryWithoutSksl) {
+      shaderTargets.remove('--sksl');
+      final List<String> retryCmd = makeImpellercCommand(shaderTargets);
+      _logger.printTrace('Retrying impellerc command without sksl: $cmd');
+      final ProcessResult retryResult = await _processManager.run(
+        retryCmd,
+        stderrEncoding: utf8,
+        stdoutEncoding: utf8,
+      );
+      if (retryResult.exitCode != 0) {
+        // Retry failed.
+        _logger.printTrace((retryResult.stdout as String).trim());
+        _logger.printError((retryResult.stderr as String).trim());
+        failure = true;
+      } else {
+        // Retry succeeded. Don't fail, but log the original (sksl) error and a
+        // warning message.
+        _logger.printError('impellerc SkSL error: ${result.stderr}'.trim());
+        // The warning message must begin with the exact string "warning: " to
+        // ensure that these non-fatal log messages show up when building with
+        // the Xcode backend.
+        _logger.printError(
+          'warning: Shader `${input.path}` is incompatible with SkSL. This '
+          'shader will not load when running with the Skia backend.');
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (failure) {
       if (fatal) {
         throw ShaderCompilerException._(
           'Shader compilation of "${input.path}" to "$outputPath" '
-          'failed with exit code $code.',
+          'failed with exit code ${result.exitCode}.',
         );
       }
       return false;