diff --git a/go/loader/loader.go b/go/loader/loader.go
index 95bc95624..4242e4533 100644
--- a/go/loader/loader.go
+++ b/go/loader/loader.go
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ func Graph(c *cache.Cache, cfg *packages.Config, patterns ...string) ([]*Package
 type program struct {
 	fset     *token.FileSet
 	packages map[string]*types.Package
+	options  *Options
 }
 
 type Stats struct {
@@ -147,6 +148,14 @@ type Stats struct {
 	Export map[*PackageSpec]time.Duration
 }
 
+type Options struct {
+	// The Go language version to use for the type checker. If unset, or if set
+	// to "module", it will default to the Go version specified in the module;
+	// if there is no module, it will default to the version of Go the
+	// executable was built with.
+	GoVersion string
+}
+
 // Load loads the package described in spec. Imports will be loaded
 // from export data, while the package itself will be loaded from
 // source.
@@ -154,10 +163,17 @@ type Stats struct {
 // An error will only be returned for system failures, such as failure
 // to read export data from disk. Syntax and type errors, among
 // others, will only populate the returned package's Errors field.
-func Load(spec *PackageSpec) (*Package, Stats, error) {
+func Load(spec *PackageSpec, opts *Options) (*Package, Stats, error) {
+	if opts == nil {
+		opts = &Options{}
+	}
+	if opts.GoVersion == "" {
+		opts.GoVersion = "module"
+	}
 	prog := &program{
 		fset:     token.NewFileSet(),
 		packages: map[string]*types.Package{},
+		options:  opts,
 	}
 
 	stats := Stats{
@@ -292,54 +308,62 @@ func (prog *program) loadFromSource(spec *PackageSpec) (*Package, error) {
 			pkg.Errors = append(pkg.Errors, convertError(err)...)
 		},
 	}
-	if spec.Module != nil && spec.Module.GoVersion != "" {
-		var our string
-		if version.IsValid(runtime.Version()) {
-			// Staticcheck was built with a released version of Go.
-			// runtime.Version() returns something like "go1.22.4" or
-			// "go1.23rc1".
-			our = runtime.Version()
+	if prog.options.GoVersion == "module" {
+		if spec.Module != nil && spec.Module.GoVersion != "" {
+			var our string
+			if version.IsValid(runtime.Version()) {
+				// Staticcheck was built with a released version of Go.
+				// runtime.Version() returns something like "go1.22.4" or
+				// "go1.23rc1".
+				our = runtime.Version()
+			} else {
+				// Staticcheck was built with a development version of Go.
+				// runtime.Version() returns something like "devel go1.23-e8ee1dc4f9
+				// Sun Jun 23 00:52:20 2024 +0000". Fall back to using ReleaseTags,
+				// where the last one will contain the language version of the
+				// development version of Go.
+				tags := build.Default.ReleaseTags
+				our = tags[len(tags)-1]
+			}
+			if version.Compare("go"+spec.Module.GoVersion, our) == 1 {
+				// We don't need this check for correctness, as go/types rejects
+				// a GoVersion that's too new. But we can produce a better error
+				// message. In Go 1.22, go/types simply says "package requires
+				// newer Go version go1.23", without any information about the
+				// file, or what version Staticcheck was built with. Starting
+				// with Go 1.23, the error seems to be better:
+				// "/home/dominikh/prj/src/example.com/foo.go:3:1: package
+				// requires newer Go version go1.24 (application built with
+				// go1.23)" and we may be able to remove this custom logic once
+				// we depend on Go 1.23.
+				//
+				// Note that if Staticcheck was built with a development version of
+				// Go, e.g. "devel go1.23-82c371a307", then we'll say that
+				// Staticcheck was built with go1.23, which is the language version
+				// of the development build. This matches the behavior of the Go
+				// toolchain, which says "go.mod requires go >= 1.23rc1 (running go
+				// 1.23; GOTOOLCHAIN=local)".
+				//
+				// Note that this prevents Go master from working with go1.23rc1,
+				// even if master is further ahead. This is currently unavoidable,
+				// and matches the behavior of the Go toolchain (see above.)
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+					"module requires at least go%s, but Staticcheck was built with %s",
+					spec.Module.GoVersion, our,
+				)
+			}
+			tc.GoVersion = "go" + spec.Module.GoVersion
 		} else {
-			// Staticcheck was built with a development version of Go.
-			// runtime.Version() returns something like "devel go1.23-e8ee1dc4f9
-			// Sun Jun 23 00:52:20 2024 +0000". Fall back to using ReleaseTags,
-			// where the last one will contain the language version of the
-			// development version of Go.
 			tags := build.Default.ReleaseTags
-			our = tags[len(tags)-1]
-		}
-		if version.Compare("go"+spec.Module.GoVersion, our) == 1 {
-			// We don't need this check for correctness, as go/types rejects a
-			// GoVersion that's too new. But we can produce a better error
-			// message.
-			//
-			// Note that if Staticcheck was built with a development version of
-			// Go, e.g. "devel go1.23-82c371a307", then we'll say that
-			// Staticcheck was built with go1.23, which is the language version
-			// of the development build. This matches the behavior of the Go
-			// toolchain, which says "go.mod requires go >= 1.23rc1 (running go
-			// 1.23; GOTOOLCHAIN=local)".
-			//
-			// Note that this prevents Go master from working with go1.23rc1,
-			// even if master is further ahead. This is currently unavoidable,
-			// and matches the behavior of the Go toolchain (see above.)
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf(
-				"module requires at least go%s, but Staticcheck was built with %s",
-				spec.Module.GoVersion, our,
-			)
+			tc.GoVersion = tags[len(tags)-1]
 		}
-		tc.GoVersion = "go" + spec.Module.GoVersion
 	} else {
-		tags := build.Default.ReleaseTags
-		tc.GoVersion = tags[len(tags)-1]
+		tc.GoVersion = prog.options.GoVersion
 	}
 	// Note that the type-checker can return a non-nil error even though the Go
 	// compiler has already successfully built this package (which is an
-	// invariant of getting to this point.) For example, for a module that
-	// requires Go 1.23, if Staticcheck was built with Go 1.22, but the user's
-	// toolchain is Go 1.23, then 'go list' (as invoked by go/packages) will
-	// build the package fine, but go/types will complain that the version is
-	// too new.
+	// invariant of getting to this point), for example because of the Go
+	// version passed to the type checker.
 	err := types.NewChecker(tc, pkg.Fset, pkg.Types, pkg.TypesInfo).Files(pkg.Syntax)
 	return pkg, err
 }
diff --git a/internal/cmd/unused/unused.go b/internal/cmd/unused/unused.go
index 6151e6660..3372b0d46 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/unused/unused.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/unused/unused.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func main() {
 			// XXX priunt errors
 			continue
 		}
-		lpkg, _, err := loader.Load(spec)
+		lpkg, _, err := loader.Load(spec, nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/lintcmd/cmd.go b/lintcmd/cmd.go
index 8bd53cf9e..eace8bc0d 100644
--- a/lintcmd/cmd.go
+++ b/lintcmd/cmd.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"go/token"
+	stdversion "go/version"
 	"io"
 	"log"
 	"os"
@@ -66,8 +67,9 @@ type Command struct {
 		debugMeasureAnalyzers string
 		debugTrace            string
 
-		checks list
-		fail   list
+		checks    list
+		fail      list
+		goVersion versionFlag
 	}
 }
 
@@ -156,8 +158,10 @@ func (cmd *Command) initFlagSet(name string) {
 
 	cmd.flags.checks = list{"inherit"}
 	cmd.flags.fail = list{"all"}
+	cmd.flags.goVersion = versionFlag("module")
 	flags.Var(&cmd.flags.checks, "checks", "Comma-separated list of `checks` to enable.")
 	flags.Var(&cmd.flags.fail, "fail", "Comma-separated list of `checks` that can cause a non-zero exit status.")
+	flags.Var(&cmd.flags.goVersion, "go", "Target Go `version` in the format '1.x', or the literal 'module' to use the module's Go version")
 }
 
 type list []string
@@ -180,6 +184,29 @@ func (list *list) Set(s string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+type versionFlag string
+
+func (v *versionFlag) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%q", string(*v))
+}
+
+func (v *versionFlag) Set(s string) error {
+	if s == "module" {
+		*v = "module"
+	} else {
+		orig := s
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(s, "go") {
+			s = "go" + s
+		}
+		if stdversion.IsValid(s) {
+			*v = versionFlag(s)
+		} else {
+			return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a valid Go version", orig)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // ParseFlags parses command line flags.
 // It must be called before calling Run.
 // After calling ParseFlags, the values of flags can be accessed.
@@ -457,6 +484,7 @@ func (cmd *Command) lint() int {
 		analyzers: cs,
 		patterns:  cmd.flags.fs.Args(),
 		lintTests: cmd.flags.tests,
+		goVersion: string(cmd.flags.goVersion),
 		config: config.Config{
 			Checks: cmd.flags.checks,
 		},
diff --git a/lintcmd/lint.go b/lintcmd/lint.go
index 3168389e4..0b588a97c 100644
--- a/lintcmd/lint.go
+++ b/lintcmd/lint.go
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ type options struct {
 	analyzers                []*lint.Analyzer
 	patterns                 []string
 	lintTests                bool
+	goVersion                string
 	printAnalyzerMeasurement func(analysis *analysis.Analyzer, pkg *loader.PackageSpec, d time.Duration)
 }
 
@@ -109,6 +110,7 @@ func (l *linter) run(bconf buildConfig) (lintResult, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return lintResult{}, err
 	}
+	r.GoVersion = l.opts.goVersion
 	r.Stats.PrintAnalyzerMeasurement = l.opts.printAnalyzerMeasurement
 
 	printStats := func() {
diff --git a/lintcmd/runner/runner.go b/lintcmd/runner/runner.go
index 0990ca8a7..d3461703b 100644
--- a/lintcmd/runner/runner.go
+++ b/lintcmd/runner/runner.go
@@ -377,7 +377,8 @@ func (act *analyzerAction) String() string {
 
 // A Runner executes analyzers on packages.
 type Runner struct {
-	Stats Stats
+	Stats     Stats
+	GoVersion string
 
 	// If set to true, Runner will populate results with data relevant to testing analyzers
 	TestMode bool
@@ -543,6 +544,7 @@ func (r *subrunner) do(act action) error {
 	fmt.Fprintf(h, "cfg %#v\n", hashCfg)
 	fmt.Fprintf(h, "pkg %x\n", a.Package.Hash)
 	fmt.Fprintf(h, "analyzers %s\n", r.analyzerNames)
+	fmt.Fprintf(h, "go %s\n", r.GoVersion)
 	fmt.Fprintf(h, "env godebug %q\n", os.Getenv("GODEBUG"))
 
 	// OPT(dh): do we actually need to hash vetx? can we not assume
@@ -685,7 +687,7 @@ func (r *subrunner) doUncached(a *packageAction) (packageActionResult, error) {
 	// processed concurrently, we shouldn't load b's export data
 	// twice.
 
-	pkg, _, err := loader.Load(a.Package)
+	pkg, _, err := loader.Load(a.Package, &loader.Options{GoVersion: r.GoVersion})
 	if err != nil {
 		return packageActionResult{}, err
 	}
diff --git a/website/content/docs/faq.md b/website/content/docs/faq.md
index 2bc61b911..7081183f3 100644
--- a/website/content/docs/faq.md
+++ b/website/content/docs/faq.md
@@ -19,3 +19,8 @@ Some checks, particularly those in the `ST` (stylecheck) category, may not be ap
 [`checks` option]({{< relref "/docs/configuration/options#checks" >}})
 in your [configuration]({{< relref "/docs/configuration/#configuration-files" >}}).
 {{% /faq/question %}}
+
+{{% faq/question id="go-version" question="Staticcheck's suggestions don't apply to my version of Go" %}}
+You can [specify the version of Go your code should work with.]({{< relref "/docs/configuration/#targeting-go-versions" >}})
+{{% /faq/question %}}
+{{% /faq/list %}}
diff --git a/website/content/docs/running-staticcheck/cli/_index.md b/website/content/docs/running-staticcheck/cli/_index.md
index 2a87ff3ca..a814e5688 100644
--- a/website/content/docs/running-staticcheck/cli/_index.md
+++ b/website/content/docs/running-staticcheck/cli/_index.md
@@ -50,6 +50,21 @@ See this [list of formatters]({{< relref "/docs/running-staticcheck/cli/formatte
 <!-- TODO -->
 <!-- ## Controlling the exit status {#fail} -->
 
+## Targeting Go versions {#go}
+
+Some of Staticcheck's analyses adjust their behavior based on the targeted Go version.
+For example, the suggestion that one use `for range xs` instead of `for _ = range xs` only applies to Go 1.4 and later, as it won't compile with versions of Go older than that.
+
+By default, Staticcheck targets the Go version declared in `go.mod` via the `go` directive.
+For Go 1.21 and never, that directive specifies the minimum required version of Go.
+
+For older versions of Go, the directive technically specifies the maximum version of language features that the module
+can use, which means it might be higher than the minimum required version. In those cases, you can manually overwrite
+the targeted Go version by using the `-go` command line flag. For example, `staticcheck -go 1.0 ./...` will only make
+suggestions that work with Go 1.0.
+
+The targeted Go version limits both language features and parts of the standard library that will be recommended.
+
 ## Excluding tests {#tests}
 
 By default, Staticcheck analyses packages as well as their tests.