diff --git a/base/compiler/ssair/passes.jl b/base/compiler/ssair/passes.jl
index 4bfb5f3fcde56..44409cfbcd486 100644
--- a/base/compiler/ssair/passes.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/ssair/passes.jl
@@ -176,11 +176,12 @@ function find_def_for_use(
     return def, useblock, curblock
 end
 
-function collect_leaves(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(val), @nospecialize(typeconstraint), 𝕃ₒ::AbstractLattice)
+function collect_leaves(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(val), @nospecialize(typeconstraint), 𝕃ₒ::AbstractLattice,
+                        predecessors = ((@nospecialize(def), compact::IncrementalCompact) -> isa(def, PhiNode) ? def.values : nothing))
     if isa(val, Union{OldSSAValue, SSAValue})
         val, typeconstraint = simple_walk_constraint(compact, val, typeconstraint)
     end
-    return walk_to_defs(compact, val, typeconstraint, 𝕃ₒ)
+    return walk_to_defs(compact, val, typeconstraint, predecessors, 𝕃ₒ)
 end
 
 function simple_walk(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(defssa#=::AnySSAValue=#),
@@ -235,16 +236,21 @@ function simple_walk_constraint(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(defss
 end
 
 """
-    walk_to_defs(compact, val, typeconstraint)
+    walk_to_defs(compact, val, typeconstraint, predecessors)
 
 Starting at `val` walk use-def chains to get all the leaves feeding into this `val`
-(pruning those leaves rules out by path conditions).
+(pruning those leaves ruled out by path conditions).
+
+`predecessors(def, compact)` is a callback which should return the set of possible
+predecessors for a "phi-like" node (PhiNode or Core.ifelse) or `nothing` otherwise.
 """
-function walk_to_defs(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(defssa), @nospecialize(typeconstraint), 𝕃ₒ::AbstractLattice)
-    visited_phinodes = AnySSAValue[]
-    isa(defssa, AnySSAValue) || return Any[defssa], visited_phinodes
+function walk_to_defs(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(defssa), @nospecialize(typeconstraint), predecessors, 𝕃ₒ::AbstractLattice)
+    visited_philikes = AnySSAValue[]
+    isa(defssa, AnySSAValue) || return Any[defssa], visited_philikes
     def = compact[defssa][:inst]
-    isa(def, PhiNode) || return Any[defssa], visited_phinodes
+    if predecessors(def, compact) === nothing
+        return Any[defssa], visited_philikes
+    end
     visited_constraints = IdDict{AnySSAValue, Any}()
     worklist_defs = AnySSAValue[]
     worklist_constraints = Any[]
@@ -256,12 +262,14 @@ function walk_to_defs(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(defssa), @nospe
         typeconstraint = pop!(worklist_constraints)
         visited_constraints[defssa] = typeconstraint
         def = compact[defssa][:inst]
-        if isa(def, PhiNode)
-            push!(visited_phinodes, defssa)
+        values = predecessors(def, compact)
+        if values !== nothing
+            push!(visited_philikes, defssa)
             possible_predecessors = Int[]
-            for n in 1:length(def.edges)
-                isassigned(def.values, n) || continue
-                val = def.values[n]
+
+            for n in 1:length(values)
+                isassigned(values, n) || continue
+                val = values[n]
                 if is_old(compact, defssa) && isa(val, SSAValue)
                     val = OldSSAValue(val.id)
                 end
@@ -270,8 +278,7 @@ function walk_to_defs(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(defssa), @nospe
                 push!(possible_predecessors, n)
             end
             for n in possible_predecessors
-                pred = def.edges[n]
-                val = def.values[n]
+                val = values[n]
                 if is_old(compact, defssa) && isa(val, SSAValue)
                     val = OldSSAValue(val.id)
                 end
@@ -306,7 +313,7 @@ function walk_to_defs(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(defssa), @nospe
             push!(leaves, defssa)
         end
     end
-    return leaves, visited_phinodes
+    return leaves, visited_philikes
 end
 
 function record_immutable_preserve!(new_preserves::Vector{Any}, def::Expr, compact::IncrementalCompact)
@@ -566,7 +573,13 @@ function lift_comparison_leaves!(@specialize(tfunc),
         val, typeconstraint = simple_walk_constraint(compact, val, typeconstraint)
     end
     isa(typeconstraint, Union) || return # bail out if there won't be a good chance for lifting
-    leaves, visited_phinodes = collect_leaves(compact, val, typeconstraint, 𝕃ₒ)
+
+    predecessors = function (@nospecialize(def), compact::IncrementalCompact)
+        isa(def, PhiNode) && return def.values
+        is_known_call(def, Core.ifelse, compact) && return def.args[3:4]
+        return nothing
+    end
+    leaves, visited_philikes = collect_leaves(compact, val, typeconstraint, 𝕃ₒ, predecessors)
     length(leaves) ≤ 1 && return # bail out if we don't have multiple leaves
 
     # check if we can evaluate the comparison for each one of the leaves
@@ -586,18 +599,51 @@ function lift_comparison_leaves!(@specialize(tfunc),
 
     # perform lifting
     lifted_val = perform_lifting!(compact,
-        visited_phinodes, cmp, lifting_cache, Bool,
+        visited_philikes, cmp, lifting_cache, Bool,
         lifted_leaves::LiftedLeaves, val, nothing)::LiftedValue
 
     compact[idx] = lifted_val.val
 end
 
-struct LiftedPhi
+struct IfElseCall
+    call::Expr
+end
+
+# An intermediate data structure used for lifting expressions through a
+# "phi-like" instruction (either a PhiNode or a call to Core.ifelse)
+struct LiftedPhilike
     ssa::AnySSAValue
-    node::PhiNode
+    node::Union{PhiNode,IfElseCall}
     need_argupdate::Bool
 end
 
+struct SkipToken end; const SKIP_TOKEN = SkipToken()
+
+function lifted_value(compact::IncrementalCompact, @nospecialize(old_node_ssa#=::AnySSAValue=#), @nospecialize(old_value),
+                      lifted_philikes::Vector{LiftedPhilike}, lifted_leaves::LiftedLeaves, reverse_mapping::IdDict{AnySSAValue, Int})
+    val = old_value
+    if is_old(compact, old_node_ssa) && isa(val, SSAValue)
+        val = OldSSAValue(val.id)
+    end
+    if isa(val, AnySSAValue)
+        val = simple_walk(compact, val)
+    end
+    if val in keys(lifted_leaves)
+        lifted_val = lifted_leaves[val]
+        lifted_val === nothing && return UNDEF_TOKEN
+        val = lifted_val.val
+        if isa(val, AnySSAValue)
+            callback = (@nospecialize(pi), @nospecialize(idx)) -> true
+            val = simple_walk(compact, val, callback)
+        end
+        return val
+    elseif isa(val, AnySSAValue) && val in keys(reverse_mapping)
+        return lifted_philikes[reverse_mapping[val]].ssa
+    else
+        return SKIP_TOKEN # Probably ignored by path condition, skip this
+    end
+end
+
 function is_old(compact, @nospecialize(old_node_ssa))
     isa(old_node_ssa, OldSSAValue) &&
         !is_pending(compact, old_node_ssa) &&
@@ -605,13 +651,13 @@ function is_old(compact, @nospecialize(old_node_ssa))
 end
 
 function perform_lifting!(compact::IncrementalCompact,
-        visited_phinodes::Vector{AnySSAValue}, @nospecialize(cache_key),
+        visited_philikes::Vector{AnySSAValue}, @nospecialize(cache_key),
         lifting_cache::IdDict{Pair{AnySSAValue, Any}, AnySSAValue},
         @nospecialize(result_t), lifted_leaves::LiftedLeaves, @nospecialize(stmt_val),
         lazydomtree::Union{LazyDomtree,Nothing})
     reverse_mapping = IdDict{AnySSAValue, Int}()
-    for id in 1:length(visited_phinodes)
-        reverse_mapping[visited_phinodes[id]] = id
+    for id in 1:length(visited_philikes)
+        reverse_mapping[visited_philikes[id]] = id
     end
 
     # Check if all the lifted leaves are the same
@@ -636,7 +682,7 @@ function perform_lifting!(compact::IncrementalCompact,
         dominates_all = true
         if lazydomtree !== nothing
             domtree = get!(lazydomtree)
-            for item in visited_phinodes
+            for item in visited_philikes
                 if !dominates_ssa(compact, domtree, the_leaf_val, item)
                     dominates_all = false
                     break
@@ -649,64 +695,82 @@ function perform_lifting!(compact::IncrementalCompact,
     end
 
     # Insert PhiNodes
-    nphis = length(visited_phinodes)
-    lifted_phis = Vector{LiftedPhi}(undef, nphis)
-    for i = 1:nphis
-        item = visited_phinodes[i]
+    nphilikes = length(visited_philikes)
+    lifted_philikes = Vector{LiftedPhilike}(undef, nphilikes)
+    for i = 1:nphilikes
+        old_ssa = visited_philikes[i]
+        old_inst = compact[old_ssa]
+        old_node = old_inst[:inst]::Union{PhiNode,Expr}
         # FIXME this cache is broken somehow
-        # ckey = Pair{AnySSAValue, Any}(item, cache_key)
+        # ckey = Pair{AnySSAValue, Any}(old_ssa, cache_key)
         # cached = ckey in keys(lifting_cache)
         cached = false
         if cached
             ssa = lifting_cache[ckey]
-            lifted_phis[i] = LiftedPhi(ssa, compact[ssa][:inst]::PhiNode, false)
+            if isa(old_node, PhiNode)
+                lifted_philikes[i] = LiftedPhilike(ssa, old_node, false)
+            else
+                lifted_philikes[i] = LiftedPhilike(ssa, IfElseCall(old_node), false)
+            end
             continue
         end
-        n = PhiNode()
-        ssa = insert_node!(compact, item, effect_free(NewInstruction(n, result_t)))
+        if isa(old_node, PhiNode)
+            new_node = PhiNode()
+            ssa = insert_node!(compact, old_ssa, effect_free(NewInstruction(new_node, result_t)))
+            lifted_philikes[i] = LiftedPhilike(ssa, new_node, true)
+        else
+            @assert is_known_call(old_node, Core.ifelse, compact)
+            ifelse_func, condition, then_result, else_result = old_node.args
+            if is_old(compact, old_ssa) && isa(condition, SSAValue)
+                condition = OldSSAValue(condition.id)
+            end
+
+            new_node = Expr(:call, ifelse_func, condition, then_result, else_result)
+            new_inst = NewInstruction(new_node, result_t, NoCallInfo(), old_inst[:line], old_inst[:flag])
+
+            ssa = insert_node!(compact, old_ssa, new_inst)
+            lifted_philikes[i] = LiftedPhilike(ssa, IfElseCall(new_node), true)
+        end
         # lifting_cache[ckey] = ssa
-        lifted_phis[i] = LiftedPhi(ssa, n, true)
     end
 
     # Fix up arguments
-    for i = 1:nphis
-        (old_node_ssa, lf) = visited_phinodes[i], lifted_phis[i]
-        old_node = compact[old_node_ssa][:inst]::PhiNode
-        new_node = lf.node
-        should_count = !isa(lf.ssa, OldSSAValue) || already_inserted(compact, lf.ssa)
+    for i = 1:nphilikes
+        (old_node_ssa, lf) = visited_philikes[i], lifted_philikes[i]
         lf.need_argupdate || continue
-        for i = 1:length(old_node.edges)
-            edge = old_node.edges[i]
-            isassigned(old_node.values, i) || continue
-            val = old_node.values[i]
-            if is_old(compact, old_node_ssa) && isa(val, SSAValue)
-                val = OldSSAValue(val.id)
-            end
-            if isa(val, AnySSAValue)
-                val = simple_walk(compact, val)
-            end
-            if val in keys(lifted_leaves)
-                push!(new_node.edges, edge)
-                lifted_val = lifted_leaves[val]
-                if lifted_val === nothing
+        should_count = !isa(lf.ssa, OldSSAValue) || already_inserted(compact, lf.ssa)
+
+        lfnode = lf.node
+        if isa(lfnode, PhiNode)
+            old_node = compact[old_node_ssa][:inst]::PhiNode
+            new_node = lfnode
+            for i = 1:length(old_node.values)
+                isassigned(old_node.values, i) || continue
+                val = lifted_value(compact, old_node_ssa, old_node.values[i],
+                                   lifted_philikes, lifted_leaves, reverse_mapping)
+                val !== SKIP_TOKEN && push!(new_node.edges, old_node.edges[i])
+                if val === UNDEF_TOKEN
                     resize!(new_node.values, length(new_node.values)+1)
-                    continue
-                end
-                val = lifted_val.val
-                if isa(val, AnySSAValue)
-                    callback = (@nospecialize(pi), @nospecialize(idx)) -> true
-                    val = simple_walk(compact, val, callback)
+                elseif val !== SKIP_TOKEN
+                    should_count && _count_added_node!(compact, val)
+                    push!(new_node.values, val)
                 end
-                should_count && _count_added_node!(compact, val)
-                push!(new_node.values, val)
-            elseif isa(val, AnySSAValue) && val in keys(reverse_mapping)
-                push!(new_node.edges, edge)
-                newval = lifted_phis[reverse_mapping[val]].ssa
-                should_count && _count_added_node!(compact, newval)
-                push!(new_node.values, newval)
-            else
-                # Probably ignored by path condition, skip this
             end
+        elseif isa(lfnode, IfElseCall)
+            then_result, else_result = lfnode.call.args[3], lfnode.call.args[4]
+
+            then_result = lifted_value(compact, old_node_ssa, then_result,
+                                       lifted_philikes, lifted_leaves, reverse_mapping)
+            else_result = lifted_value(compact, old_node_ssa, else_result,
+                                       lifted_philikes, lifted_leaves, reverse_mapping)
+
+            should_count && _count_added_node!(compact, then_result)
+            should_count && _count_added_node!(compact, else_result)
+
+            @assert then_result !== SKIP_TOKEN && then_result !== UNDEF_TOKEN
+            @assert else_result !== SKIP_TOKEN && else_result !== UNDEF_TOKEN
+
+            lfnode.call.args[3], lfnode.call.args[4] = then_result, else_result
         end
     end
 
@@ -718,7 +782,7 @@ function perform_lifting!(compact::IncrementalCompact,
     if stmt_val in keys(lifted_leaves)
         return lifted_leaves[stmt_val]
     elseif isa(stmt_val, AnySSAValue) && stmt_val in keys(reverse_mapping)
-        return LiftedValue(lifted_phis[reverse_mapping[stmt_val]].ssa)
+        return LiftedValue(lifted_philikes[reverse_mapping[stmt_val]].ssa)
     end
 
     return stmt_val # N.B. should never happen
@@ -1006,7 +1070,7 @@ function sroa_pass!(ir::IRCode, inlining::Union{Nothing,InliningState}=nothing)
         field = try_compute_fieldidx_stmt(compact, stmt, struct_typ)
         field === nothing && continue
 
-        leaves, visited_phinodes = collect_leaves(compact, val, struct_typ, 𝕃ₒ)
+        leaves, visited_philikes = collect_leaves(compact, val, struct_typ, 𝕃ₒ)
         isempty(leaves) && continue
 
         result_t = argextype(SSAValue(idx), compact)
@@ -1019,7 +1083,7 @@ function sroa_pass!(ir::IRCode, inlining::Union{Nothing,InliningState}=nothing)
         end
 
         val = perform_lifting!(compact,
-            visited_phinodes, field, lifting_cache, result_t, lifted_leaves, val, lazydomtree)
+            visited_philikes, field, lifting_cache, result_t, lifted_leaves, val, lazydomtree)
 
         # Insert the undef check if necessary
         if any_undef && val === nothing
diff --git a/test/compiler/irpasses.jl b/test/compiler/irpasses.jl
index c704a8cf1c434..f3c74df884cad 100644
--- a/test/compiler/irpasses.jl
+++ b/test/compiler/irpasses.jl
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ end
 # comparison lifting
 # ==================
 
-let # lifting `===`
+let # lifting `===` through PhiNode
     src = code_typed1((Bool,Int,)) do c, x
         y = c ? x : nothing
         y === nothing # => ϕ(false, true)
@@ -557,7 +557,15 @@ let # lifting `===`
     end
 end
 
-let # lifting `isa`
+let # lifting `===` through Core.ifelse
+    src = code_typed1((Bool,Int,)) do c, x
+        y = Core.ifelse(c, x, nothing)
+        y === nothing # => Core.ifelse(c, false, true)
+    end
+    @test count(iscall((src, ===)), src.code) == 0
+end
+
+let # lifting `isa` through PhiNode
     src = code_typed1((Bool,Int,)) do c, x
         y = c ? x : nothing
         isa(y, Int) # => ϕ(true, false)
@@ -580,7 +588,16 @@ let # lifting `isa`
     end
 end
 
-let # lifting `isdefined`
+let # lifting `isa` through Core.ifelse
+    src = code_typed1((Bool,Int,)) do c, x
+        y = Core.ifelse(c, x, nothing)
+        isa(y, Int) # => Core.ifelse(c, true, false)
+    end
+    @test count(iscall((src, isa)), src.code) == 0
+end
+
+
+let # lifting `isdefined` through PhiNode
     src = code_typed1((Bool,Some{Int},)) do c, x
         y = c ? x : nothing
         isdefined(y, 1) # => ϕ(true, false)
@@ -603,6 +620,14 @@ let # lifting `isdefined`
     end
 end
 
+let # lifting `isdefined` through Core.ifelse
+    src = code_typed1((Bool,Some{Int},)) do c, x
+        y = Core.ifelse(c, x, nothing)
+        isdefined(y, 1) # => Core.ifelse(c, true, false)
+    end
+    @test count(iscall((src, isdefined)), src.code) == 0
+end
+
 mutable struct Foo30594; x::Float64; end
 Base.copy(x::Foo30594) = Foo30594(x.x)
 function add!(p::Foo30594, off::Foo30594)