diff --git a/cutile-rs/scripts/run_examples.sh b/cutile-rs/scripts/run_examples.sh
index 92bfa695bd..f171f1c6e5 100755
--- a/cutile-rs/scripts/run_examples.sh
+++ b/cutile-rs/scripts/run_examples.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,23 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
     esac
 done
 
+# reference-cpu pulls in candle, whose gemm-f16 kernels use FP16 arithmetic
+# instructions that the generic aarch64 target does not enable. Turn on just
+# that extension when this CPU has it (asimdhp); otherwise build without
+# reference-cpu and skip the examples that require it.
+SKIP_EXAMPLES=()
+if [[ "$(uname -m)" == "aarch64" && "$EXTRA_FEATURES" == *reference-cpu* ]]; then
+    if grep -qw asimdhp /proc/cpuinfo; then
+        export RUSTFLAGS="${RUSTFLAGS:+$RUSTFLAGS }-C target-feature=+fp16"
+    else
+        features="${EXTRA_FEATURES#--features }"
+        features=$(tr ',' '\n' <<< "$features" | grep -vx 'reference-cpu' | paste -sd, -)
+        EXTRA_FEATURES="${features:+--features $features}"
+        SKIP_EXAMPLES=(async_gemm flash_attention)
+        echo "No FP16 arithmetic on this aarch64 CPU: skipping the reference-cpu examples"
+    fi
+fi
+
 if [[ -n "$EXTRA_FEATURES" ]]; then
     print_header "Running examples ($EXTRA_FEATURES)"
 else
@@ -28,7 +45,7 @@ run_step \
 
 echo -e "${YELLOW}>>> Running cutile-examples (GPU)${NC}"
 cd "$REPO_ROOT/cutile-examples" || exit 1
-run_examples "$REPO_ROOT/cutile-examples/examples" $EXTRA_FEATURES
+run_examples "$REPO_ROOT/cutile-examples/examples" $EXTRA_FEATURES "${SKIP_EXAMPLES[@]}"
 
 print_summary_and_exit \
     "All supported examples passed (see skipped examples above)." \