A scheduling algorithm is provided for selecting the placement of instructions with internal slack into a schedule of instructions within a loop. The algorithm achieves this by pinning nodes with internal slack to corresponding nodes on the critical path of the code that have similar properties in terms of the data dependency graph, such as earliest time and latest time. The effect is that nodes with internal slack are more often optimally placed in the schedule, reducing the need for rotating registers or register copy instructions. The benefit of the present invention can primarily be seen when performing instruction scheduling or software pipelining on loop code, but can also apply to other forms of instruction scheduling when greater control of placement of nodes with internal slack is desired.