diff --git a/xdsl/dialects/builtin.py b/xdsl/dialects/builtin.py
index e6f4587b49..f8ed76c7db 100644
--- a/xdsl/dialects/builtin.py
+++ b/xdsl/dialects/builtin.py
@@ -1175,8 +1175,18 @@ def from_strings(name: str, value: str, type: Attribute = NoneAttr()) -> OpaqueA
         return OpaqueAttr([StringAttr(name), StringAttr(value), type])
 
 
+class MemrefLayoutAttr(Attribute, ABC):
+    """
+    Interface for any attribute acceptable as a memref layout.
+    """
+
+    name = "abstract.memref_layout_att"
+
+    pass
+
+
 @irdl_attr_definition
-class StridedLayoutAttr(ParametrizedAttribute):
+class StridedLayoutAttr(MemrefLayoutAttr, ParametrizedAttribute):
     """
     An attribute representing a strided layout of a shaped type.
     See https://mlir.llvm.org/docs/Dialects/Builtin/#stridedlayoutattr
@@ -1218,7 +1228,7 @@ def __init__(
 
 
 @irdl_attr_definition
-class AffineMapAttr(Data[AffineMap]):
+class AffineMapAttr(MemrefLayoutAttr, Data[AffineMap]):
     """An Attribute containing an AffineMap object."""
 
     name = "affine_map"
@@ -1525,14 +1535,14 @@ class MemRefType(
 
     shape: ParameterDef[ArrayAttr[IntAttr]]
     element_type: ParameterDef[_MemRefTypeElement]
-    layout: ParameterDef[Attribute]
+    layout: ParameterDef[MemrefLayoutAttr | NoneAttr]
     memory_space: ParameterDef[Attribute]
 
     def __init__(
         self: MemRefType[_MemRefTypeElement],
         element_type: _MemRefTypeElement,
         shape: Iterable[int | IntAttr],
-        layout: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
+        layout: MemrefLayoutAttr | NoneAttr = NoneAttr(),
         memory_space: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
     ):
         shape = ArrayAttr(
@@ -1561,7 +1571,7 @@ def get_element_type(self) -> _MemRefTypeElement:
     def from_element_type_and_shape(
         referenced_type: _MemRefTypeElement,
         shape: Iterable[int | AnyIntegerAttr],
-        layout: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
+        layout: MemrefLayoutAttr | NoneAttr = NoneAttr(),
         memory_space: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
     ) -> MemRefType[_MemRefTypeElement]:
         shape_int = [i if isinstance(i, int) else i.value.data for i in shape]
@@ -1574,7 +1584,7 @@ def from_params(
         shape: ArrayAttr[AnyIntegerAttr] = ArrayAttr(
             [IntegerAttr.from_int_and_width(1, 64)]
         ),
-        layout: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
+        layout: MemrefLayoutAttr | NoneAttr = NoneAttr(),
         memory_space: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
     ) -> MemRefType[_MemRefTypeElement]:
         shape_int = [i.value.data for i in shape.data]
diff --git a/xdsl/dialects/experimental/aie.py b/xdsl/dialects/experimental/aie.py
index e9eab2e8c9..965d8df7dc 100644
--- a/xdsl/dialects/experimental/aie.py
+++ b/xdsl/dialects/experimental/aie.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
     IntAttr,
     IntegerAttr,
     IntegerType,
+    MemrefLayoutAttr,
     MemRefType,
     ModuleOp,
     NoneAttr,
@@ -163,7 +164,7 @@ class ObjectFIFO(Generic[AttributeInvT], ParametrizedAttribute):
     def from_element_type_and_shape(
         referenced_type: AttributeInvT,
         shape: Iterable[int | IntAttr],
-        layout: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
+        layout: MemrefLayoutAttr | NoneAttr = NoneAttr(),
         memory_space: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
     ) -> ObjectFIFO[AttributeInvT]:
         return ObjectFIFO(
diff --git a/xdsl/dialects/memref.py b/xdsl/dialects/memref.py
index 86394ee78f..f0de04545c 100644
--- a/xdsl/dialects/memref.py
+++ b/xdsl/dialects/memref.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
     IntAttr,
     IntegerAttr,
     IntegerType,
+    MemrefLayoutAttr,
     MemRefType,
     NoneAttr,
     StridedLayoutAttr,
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ def get(
         alignment: int | AnyIntegerAttr | None = None,
         shape: Iterable[int | IntAttr] | None = None,
         dynamic_sizes: Sequence[SSAValue | Operation] | None = None,
-        layout: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
+        layout: MemrefLayoutAttr | NoneAttr = NoneAttr(),
         memory_space: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
     ) -> Self:
         if shape is None:
@@ -305,7 +306,7 @@ def get(
         alignment: int | AnyIntegerAttr | None = None,
         shape: Iterable[int | IntAttr] | None = None,
         dynamic_sizes: Sequence[SSAValue | Operation] | None = None,
-        layout: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
+        layout: MemrefLayoutAttr | NoneAttr = NoneAttr(),
         memory_space: Attribute = NoneAttr(),
     ) -> Alloca:
         if shape is None:
diff --git a/xdsl/parser/attribute_parser.py b/xdsl/parser/attribute_parser.py
index 6d79a4229e..216a698672 100644
--- a/xdsl/parser/attribute_parser.py
+++ b/xdsl/parser/attribute_parser.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
     IntegerAttr,
     IntegerType,
     LocationAttr,
+    MemrefLayoutAttr,
     MemRefType,
     NoneAttr,
     NoneType,
@@ -520,27 +521,18 @@ def _parse_memref_attrs(
         # layout is the second one
         if self.parse_optional_punctuation(",") is not None:
             memory_space = self.parse_attribute()
+            if not isinstance(memory_or_layout, MemrefLayoutAttr):
+                self.raise_error("Expected a MemRef layout attribute")
             return MemRefType(type, shape, memory_or_layout, memory_space)
 
-        # Otherwise, there is a single argument, so we check based on the
-        # attribute type. If we don't know, we return an error.
-        # MLIR base itself on the `MemRefLayoutAttrInterface`, which we do not
-        # support.
+        # If the argument is a MemrefLayoutAttr, use it as layout
+        if isinstance(memory_or_layout, MemrefLayoutAttr):
+            return MemRefType(type, shape, layout=memory_or_layout)
 
-        # If the argument is an integer, it is a memory space
-        if isa(memory_or_layout, AnyIntegerAttr):
+        # Otherwise, consider it as the memory space.
+        else:
             return MemRefType(type, shape, memory_space=memory_or_layout)
 
-        # We only accept strided layouts and affine_maps
-        if isa(memory_or_layout, StridedLayoutAttr) or (
-            isinstance(memory_or_layout, UnregisteredAttr)
-            and memory_or_layout.attr_name.data == "affine_map"
-        ):
-            return MemRefType(type, shape, layout=memory_or_layout)
-        self.raise_error(
-            "Cannot decide if the given attribute " "is a layout or a memory space!"
-        )
-
     def _parse_vector_attrs(self) -> AnyVectorType:
         dims: list[int] = []
         num_scalable_dims = 0