diff --git a/src/pcgen.sv b/src/pcgen.sv
index 4b9f45c2e..80623583a 100644
--- a/src/pcgen.sv
+++ b/src/pcgen.sv
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ module pcgen (
         // this tells us whether it is a consecutive PC or a completely new PC
         set_pc_n         = 1'b0;
 
+        // keep the PC stable if IF by default
+        npc_n            = npc_q;
         // -------------------------------
         // 3. Control flow change request
         // -------------------------------
@@ -99,8 +101,8 @@ module pcgen (
         if (if_ready_i && fetch_enable_i)
             // but operate on the current fetch address
             npc_n = {fetch_address[63:2], 2'b0}  + 64'h4;
-        else // or keep the PC stable if IF is not ready
-            npc_n = npc_q;
+
+
         // we only need to stall the consecutive and predicted case since in any other case we will flush at least
         // the front-end which means that the IF stage will always be ready to accept a new request
 
@@ -110,7 +112,7 @@ module pcgen (
         // only predict if the IF stage is ready, otherwise we might take the predicted PC away which will end in a endless loop
         // also check if we fetched on a half word (npc_q[1] == 1), it might be the case that we need the next 16 byte of the following instruction
         // prediction could potentially prevent us from getting them
-        if (if_ready_i && branch_predict_btb.valid && branch_predict_btb.predict_taken && !npc_q[1]) begin
+        if (if_ready_i && branch_predict_btb.valid && branch_predict_btb.predict_taken && !fetch_address[1]) begin
             npc_n = branch_predict_btb.predict_address;
         end
         // -------------------------------
diff --git a/tb/core_tb.sv b/tb/core_tb.sv
index fe6fab0ad..0255457ed 100644
--- a/tb/core_tb.sv
+++ b/tb/core_tb.sv
@@ -19,17 +19,17 @@
 //
 
 import ariane_pkg::*;
+import uvm_pkg::*;
+import core_lib_pkg::*;
 
 `define DRAM_BASE 64'h80000000
 
+
 module core_tb;
     import "DPI-C" function chandle read_elf(string fn);
     import "DPI-C" function longint unsigned get_symbol_address(string symb);
     import "DPI-C" function longint unsigned get_symbol_size(string symb);
 
-    import uvm_pkg::*;
-    import core_lib_pkg::*;
-
     logic clk_i;
     logic rst_ni;
     logic rtc_i;
@@ -190,7 +190,8 @@ module core_tb;
         // initialize .bss
         bss_address = get_symbol_address(".bss");
         bss_size    = get_symbol_size(".bss");
-        $display("Symbol Address: %x, Symbol Size: %x, Address: %x", ((bss_address - `DRAM_BASE) >> 3), bss_size, address);
+        // `uvm_info("Core Test",  $sformatf(".bss address: %x, .bss size: %x, .tohost address: %x", ((bss_address - `DRAM_BASE) >> 3), bss_size, address), UVM_LOW)
+
         // the section should be aligned on a double word boundary
         for (int i = 0; i < bss_size/8; i++) begin
                 core_mem_i.ram_i.mem[((bss_address - `DRAM_BASE) >> 3) + i] = 64'b0;