diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/add_context.rs b/dag_in_context/src/add_context.rs
index f5051e16e..d7e258d04 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/add_context.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/add_context.rs
@@ -327,9 +327,6 @@ impl Expr {
                 body.add_ctx_with_cache(current_ctx, cache),
             )),
             Expr::Symbolic(s, ty) => RcExpr::new(Expr::Symbolic(s.clone(), ty.clone())),
-            Expr::DeadCode(subexpr) => RcExpr::new(Expr::DeadCode(
-                subexpr.add_ctx_with_cache(current_ctx, cache),
-            )),
         };
         cache
             .with_ctx
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/from_egglog.rs b/dag_in_context/src/from_egglog.rs
index afda043cd..cd9625796 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/from_egglog.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/from_egglog.rs
@@ -343,9 +343,6 @@ impl<'a> FromEgglog<'a> {
               self.expr_from_egglog(expr.clone()),
             ))
           }
-          ("DeadCode", [subexpr]) => {
-            Rc::new(Expr::DeadCode(self.expr_from_egglog(self.termdag.get(*subexpr).clone())))
-          }
           _ => panic!("Invalid expr: {:?}", expr),
         });
 
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/greedy_dag_extractor.rs b/dag_in_context/src/greedy_dag_extractor.rs
index 5ad9cec9e..f0f4de915 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/greedy_dag_extractor.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/greedy_dag_extractor.rs
@@ -462,12 +462,15 @@ impl<'a> Extractor<'a> {
     /// violating the invariant that we only extract one term per eclass.
     /// This function would be called with `Neg(b)` as `term`, and would return `Neg(a)` as the new term.
     /// This restores the invariant that we only extract one term per eclass.
+    ///
+    /// When is_free is true, return 0 for the cost and don't add new nodes to the cost set.
     fn add_term_to_cost_set(
         &mut self,
         info: &EgraphInfo,
         current_costs: &mut HashTrieMap<ClassId, (Term, Cost)>,
         term: Term,
         other_costs: &HashTrieMap<ClassId, (Term, Cost)>,
+        is_free: bool,
     ) -> (Term, Cost) {
         match &term {
             Term::Lit(_) => {
@@ -480,11 +483,6 @@ impl<'a> Extractor<'a> {
                     return (term, NotNan::new(0.).unwrap());
                 }
 
-                if head.to_string() == "DeadCode" {
-                    // no need to add to cost set
-                    return (term, NotNan::new(0.).unwrap());
-                }
-
                 let nodeid = &self.term_node(&term);
                 let eclass = info.egraph.nid_to_cid(nodeid);
                 if let Some((existing_term, _existing_cost)) = current_costs.get(eclass) {
@@ -492,9 +490,14 @@ impl<'a> Extractor<'a> {
                 } else {
                     let unshared_cost = match other_costs.get(eclass) {
                         Some((_, cost)) => *cost,
+                        // no cost stored, so it's free
                         None => NotNan::new(0.).unwrap(),
                     };
                     let mut cost = unshared_cost;
+                    if is_free {
+                        cost = NotNan::new(0.).unwrap();
+                    }
+
                     let new_term = {
                         let mut new_children = vec![];
                         for child in children {
@@ -504,6 +507,7 @@ impl<'a> Extractor<'a> {
                                 current_costs,
                                 child.clone(),
                                 other_costs,
+                                is_free,
                             );
                             new_children.push(new_child);
                             cost += child_cost;
@@ -511,8 +515,11 @@ impl<'a> Extractor<'a> {
                         self.termdag.app(*head, new_children)
                     };
                     self.add_correspondence(new_term.clone(), nodeid.clone());
-                    *current_costs =
-                        current_costs.insert(eclass.clone(), (new_term.clone(), unshared_cost));
+
+                    if cost > NotNan::new(0.).unwrap() {
+                        *current_costs =
+                            current_costs.insert(eclass.clone(), (new_term.clone(), unshared_cost));
+                    }
 
                     (new_term, cost)
                 }
@@ -736,30 +743,22 @@ impl<'a> Extractor<'a> {
                             }
                         }
                     }
+                    eprintln!("used children: {:?}", used_children);
 
                     if !add_to_shared {
                         // now that we have which children are used, try to break up the inputs
                         if let Some(broken_up_terms) = self.try_break_up_term(&child_set.term) {
                             let mut new_input_children = vec![];
                             for (idx, input_tuple_term) in broken_up_terms.iter().enumerate() {
-                                if used_children.contains(&idx) {
-                                    let (child_term, net_cost) = self.add_term_to_cost_set(
-                                        info,
-                                        &mut costs,
-                                        input_tuple_term.clone(),
-                                        &child_set.costs,
-                                    );
-                                    shared_total += net_cost;
-                                    new_input_children.push(child_term);
-                                } else {
-                                    let deadcode_term = self
-                                        .termdag
-                                        .app("DeadCode".into(), vec![input_tuple_term.clone()]);
-                                    new_input_children.push(deadcode_term.clone());
-                                    let old_term_node =
-                                        self.correspondence.get(input_tuple_term).unwrap();
-                                    self.add_correspondence(deadcode_term, old_term_node.clone());
-                                }
+                                let (child_term, net_cost) = self.add_term_to_cost_set(
+                                    info,
+                                    &mut costs,
+                                    input_tuple_term.clone(),
+                                    &child_set.costs,
+                                    !used_children.contains(&idx),
+                                );
+                                shared_total += net_cost;
+                                new_input_children.push(child_term);
                             }
                             let (new_term, children_used) =
                                 self.build_concat(child_set.term.clone(), &new_input_children);
@@ -779,6 +778,7 @@ impl<'a> Extractor<'a> {
                         &mut costs,
                         child_set.term.clone(),
                         &child_set.costs,
+                        false,
                     );
                     shared_total += net_cost;
                     children_terms.push(child_term);
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/interpreter.rs b/dag_in_context/src/interpreter.rs
index 8fc491a5e..a47b758b9 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/interpreter.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/interpreter.rs
@@ -460,10 +460,6 @@ impl<'a> VirtualMachine<'a> {
                 self.interpret_call(func_name, &e_val)
             }
             Expr::Symbolic(_, _ty) => panic!("found symbolic"),
-            // dead code marks it as dead, but we can still evaluate it
-            // soundly
-            // dead code should be removed by the dead code pass after extraction
-            Expr::DeadCode(subexpr) => self.interpret_expr(subexpr, arg),
         };
         self.eval_cache.insert(Rc::as_ptr(expr), res.clone());
         res
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/linearity.rs b/dag_in_context/src/linearity.rs
index f3e352775..b8f3f41b8 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/linearity.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/linearity.rs
@@ -188,7 +188,6 @@ impl<'a> Extractor<'a> {
             }
             Expr::Const(_, _, _) => panic!("Const has no effect"),
             Expr::Symbolic(_, _ty) => panic!("found symbolic"),
-            Expr::DeadCode(_subexpr) => panic!("found dead code"),
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/pretty_print.rs b/dag_in_context/src/pretty_print.rs
index 5beec1b96..b3df70bf1 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/pretty_print.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/pretty_print.rs
@@ -408,7 +408,6 @@ impl Expr {
             Expr::Arg(..) => "arg".into(),
             Expr::Function(name, ..) => "fun_".to_owned() + name,
             Expr::Symbolic(var, _ty) => "symbolic_".to_owned() + var,
-            Expr::DeadCode(_subexpr) => todo!("dead code pretty print"),
         }
     }
 
@@ -494,7 +493,6 @@ impl Expr {
                 )
             }
             Expr::Symbolic(str, _ty) => format!("{str}.clone()"),
-            Expr::DeadCode(_subexpr) => todo!("dead code ast"),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/remove_dead_code_nodes.rs b/dag_in_context/src/remove_dead_code_nodes.rs
index 797feda0a..2720052e1 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/remove_dead_code_nodes.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/remove_dead_code_nodes.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-use std::{collections::HashMap, rc::Rc};
+use std::{
+    collections::{HashMap, HashSet},
+    rc::Rc,
+};
 
 use crate::{
     ast::parallel_vec_ty,
@@ -65,25 +68,65 @@ fn try_split_inputs(expr: RcExpr) -> Option<Vec<RcExpr>> {
     }
 }
 
+fn indices_used(expr: RcExpr) -> HashSet<usize> {
+    let mut res = HashSet::new();
+    match expr.as_ref() {
+        Expr::Get(expr, index) => match expr.as_ref() {
+            Expr::Arg(_ty, _ctx) => {
+                res.insert(*index);
+            }
+            _ => {
+                res.extend(indices_used(expr.clone()));
+            }
+        },
+        Expr::Arg(ty, _ctx) => {
+            // all of them are used, add one per length of tuple
+            match ty {
+                Type::TupleT(vec) => {
+                    for i in 0..vec.len() {
+                        res.insert(i);
+                    }
+                }
+                _ => {
+                    res.insert(0);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        _ => {
+            for expr in expr.children_same_scope() {
+                res.extend(indices_used(expr));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    res
+}
+
 /// given a vector of inputs, add the non-dead ones to a new vector
 /// and return the indicies of the dead ones
 fn partition_inputs_and_remove_dead_code(
     inputs: Vec<RcExpr>,
+    regions: Vec<RcExpr>,
     memo: &mut HashMap<(*const Expr, Vec<usize>), RcExpr>,
     current_dead: &Vec<usize>,
 ) -> (Vec<RcExpr>, Vec<usize>) {
+    let indices_used = regions
+        .iter()
+        .map(|region| indices_used(region.clone()))
+        .fold(HashSet::new(), |mut acc, used| {
+            acc.extend(used);
+            acc
+        });
+
     let mut new_inputs = vec![];
     let mut new_dead_indicies = vec![];
-    for (index, input) in inputs.iter().enumerate() {
-        match input.as_ref() {
-            Expr::DeadCode(_subexpr) => {
-                new_dead_indicies.push(index);
-            }
-            _ => {
-                new_inputs.push(remove_dead_code_expr(input.clone(), memo, current_dead));
-            }
+    for (i, input) in inputs.iter().enumerate() {
+        if indices_used.contains(&i) {
+            new_inputs.push(remove_dead_code_expr(input.clone(), memo, current_dead));
+        } else {
+            new_dead_indicies.push(i);
         }
     }
+
     (new_inputs, new_dead_indicies)
 }
 
@@ -106,6 +149,11 @@ fn remove_dead_code_expr(
             // check if the expr is an argument
             match expr.as_ref() {
                 Expr::Arg(ty, ctx) => {
+                    // if the index is dead, panic
+                    if dead_indicies.contains(index) {
+                        panic!("Found dead code in argument");
+                    }
+
                     let new_ty = remove_dead_code_ty(ty.clone(), dead_indicies);
                     let mut new_index = *index;
                     for dead_index in dead_indicies {
@@ -141,8 +189,12 @@ fn remove_dead_code_expr(
         }
         Expr::If(pred, inputs, then, else_case) => {
             if let Some(split_inputs) = try_split_inputs(inputs.clone()) {
-                let (new_inputs, new_dead_indicies) =
-                    partition_inputs_and_remove_dead_code(split_inputs, memo, dead_indicies);
+                let (new_inputs, new_dead_indicies) = partition_inputs_and_remove_dead_code(
+                    split_inputs,
+                    vec![then.clone(), else_case.clone()],
+                    memo,
+                    dead_indicies,
+                );
                 let new_pred = remove_dead_code_expr(pred.clone(), memo, dead_indicies);
                 RcExpr::new(Expr::If(
                     new_pred.clone(),
@@ -161,8 +213,12 @@ fn remove_dead_code_expr(
         }
         Expr::Switch(pred, inputs, branches) => {
             if let Some(split_inputs) = try_split_inputs(inputs.clone()) {
-                let (new_inputs, new_dead_indicies) =
-                    partition_inputs_and_remove_dead_code(split_inputs, memo, dead_indicies);
+                let (new_inputs, new_dead_indicies) = partition_inputs_and_remove_dead_code(
+                    split_inputs,
+                    branches.clone(),
+                    memo,
+                    dead_indicies,
+                );
                 let mut new_branches = vec![];
                 for branch in branches.iter() {
                     new_branches.push(remove_dead_code_expr(
@@ -188,9 +244,6 @@ fn remove_dead_code_expr(
                 ))
             }
         }
-        Expr::DeadCode(_subexpr) => {
-            panic!("Reached dead code without being in inputs of control flow node");
-        }
         Expr::Function(_, _, _, _expr) => panic!("Found function inside of function"),
         _ => {
             expr.map_expr_children(|expr| remove_dead_code_expr(expr.clone(), memo, dead_indicies))
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/schema.rs b/dag_in_context/src/schema.rs
index 935852868..c9bfd8e72 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/schema.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/schema.rs
@@ -124,9 +124,6 @@ pub enum Expr {
     DoWhile(RcExpr, RcExpr),
     Arg(Type, Assumption),
     Function(String, Type, Type, RcExpr),
-    // marks a subexpression as dead code that can be dropped
-    // used by extraction, then dead code is removed by a dead code pass
-    DeadCode(RcExpr),
     // optionally, the type of this symbol for typechecking
     Symbolic(String, Option<Type>),
 }
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/schema_helpers.rs b/dag_in_context/src/schema_helpers.rs
index 30daed0af..656643117 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/schema_helpers.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/schema_helpers.rs
@@ -132,7 +132,6 @@ impl Expr {
             Expr::Alloc(..) => Constructor::Alloc,
             Expr::Top(..) => Constructor::Top,
             Expr::Symbolic(_, _ty) => panic!("found symbolic"),
-            Expr::DeadCode(_subexpr) => panic!("found dead code"),
         }
     }
     pub fn func_name(&self) -> Option<String> {
@@ -223,7 +222,6 @@ impl Expr {
             Expr::Empty(_, _) => vec![],
             Expr::Arg(_, _) => vec![],
             Expr::Symbolic(_, _ty) => vec![],
-            Expr::DeadCode(subexpr) => vec![subexpr.clone()],
         }
     }
 
@@ -253,7 +251,6 @@ impl Expr {
             Expr::DoWhile(inputs, _body) => vec![inputs.clone()],
             Expr::Arg(_, _) => vec![],
             Expr::Symbolic(_, _ty) => vec![],
-            Expr::DeadCode(subexpr) => vec![subexpr.clone()],
         }
     }
 
@@ -275,7 +272,6 @@ impl Expr {
             Expr::Arg(ty, _) => ty.clone(),
             Expr::Function(_, ty, _, _) => ty.clone(),
             Expr::Symbolic(_, _ty) => panic!("found symbolic"),
-            Expr::DeadCode(subexpr) => subexpr.get_arg_type(),
         }
     }
 
@@ -375,7 +371,6 @@ impl Expr {
             Expr::Arg(_, ctx) => ctx,
             Expr::Function(_, _, _, x) => x.get_ctx(),
             Expr::Symbolic(_, _ty) => panic!("found symbolic"),
-            Expr::DeadCode(subexpr) => subexpr.get_ctx(),
         }
     }
 
@@ -511,14 +506,6 @@ impl Expr {
             }
             Expr::Empty(_, _) => Rc::new(Expr::Empty(arg_ty.clone(), arg_ctx.clone())),
             Expr::Symbolic(_, _ty) => panic!("found symbolic"),
-            Expr::DeadCode(subexpr) => Rc::new(Expr::DeadCode(Self::subst_with_cache(
-                arg,
-                arg_ty,
-                arg_ctx,
-                subexpr,
-                subst_cache,
-                context_cache,
-            ))),
         };
 
         // Add the substituted to cache
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/to_egglog.rs b/dag_in_context/src/to_egglog.rs
index 5adf001d0..a4dfc4d60 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/to_egglog.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/to_egglog.rs
@@ -262,7 +262,6 @@ impl Expr {
                 term_dag.app("Function".into(), vec![name_lit, ty_in, ty_out, body])
             }
             Expr::Symbolic(name, _ty) => term_dag.var(name.into()),
-            Expr::DeadCode(_subexpr) => panic!("Dead code should not be converted to egglog"),
         };
 
         term_dag
diff --git a/dag_in_context/src/typechecker.rs b/dag_in_context/src/typechecker.rs
index e2c4f29cb..f95bfc92f 100644
--- a/dag_in_context/src/typechecker.rs
+++ b/dag_in_context/src/typechecker.rs
@@ -527,10 +527,6 @@ impl<'a> TypeChecker<'a> {
                 }
                 (found_ty.clone(), expr.clone())
             }
-            Expr::DeadCode(subexpr) => {
-                let (ty, new_subexpr) = self.add_arg_types_to_expr(subexpr.clone(), arg_tys);
-                (ty, RcExpr::new(Expr::DeadCode(new_subexpr)))
-            }
             Expr::Function(_, _, _, _) => panic!("Expected expression, got function"),
             Expr::Symbolic(_, ty) => (
                 ty.clone()
@@ -561,7 +557,6 @@ impl<'a> TypeChecker<'a> {
     pub(crate) fn get_arg_type(expr: &RcExpr) -> Type {
         match expr.as_ref() {
             Expr::Arg(ty, _) => ty.clone(),
-            Expr::DeadCode(subexpr) => Self::get_arg_type(subexpr),
             Expr::Const(_, ty, _) => ty.clone(),
             Expr::Top(_, rc, _, _) => Self::get_arg_type(rc),
             Expr::Bop(_, left, _) => Self::get_arg_type(left),
diff --git a/src/rvsdg/from_dag.rs b/src/rvsdg/from_dag.rs
index 8ee2b50dd..afb182133 100644
--- a/src/rvsdg/from_dag.rs
+++ b/src/rvsdg/from_dag.rs
@@ -463,9 +463,6 @@ impl<'a> TreeToRvsdg<'a> {
                 res
             }
             Expr::Symbolic(_, _ty) => panic!("symbolic not supported"),
-            Expr::DeadCode(_) => {
-                panic!("dead code should have been removed at the end of extraction!")
-            }
         };
         self.translation_cache
             .insert(Rc::as_ptr(&expr), res.clone());