diff --git a/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py b/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py
index e915e621fc3c..f5caaf74b61d 100644
--- a/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py
+++ b/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py
@@ -145,28 +145,23 @@ def full_ast_rewrite(base_sink:UOp, bufs:Tuple[int, ...], var_vals:Dict[Variable
 
 # *** List[LazyBuffer] lowering to ScheduleItem ***
 
-def _recursive_uop(buf:LazyBuffer, outputs:List[LazyBuffer], inputs:List[LazyBuffer], buf_uops:Dict[Buffer, UOp], cache:Dict[LazyBuffer, UOp]) -> UOp:
+def to_uop(buf:LazyBuffer, outputs:List[LazyBuffer], inputs:List[LazyBuffer], buf_uops:Dict[Buffer, UOp], cache:Dict[LazyBuffer, UOp]) -> UOp:
   if (r:=cache.get(buf)) is not None: return r
+  if buf is not buf.base:
+    cache[buf] = ret = to_uop(buf.base, outputs, inputs, buf_uops, cache).view(buf.st)
+    return ret
   dtype = buf.dtype.base if isinstance(buf.dtype, ImageDType) else buf.dtype
-
-  # buffer ops define ShapeTracker
-  # if it's realized, it's a load and we add it to the inputs
   if (ubuf:=buf_uops.get(buf.buffer)) is not None and buf not in outputs:
-    if buf.op is MetaOps.CONST: return ubuf.view(buf.st)
+    if buf.op is MetaOps.CONST: return ubuf
     if not any(x.buffer is buf.buffer for x in outputs) and buf not in inputs: inputs.append(buf)
-    return UOp(UOps.LOAD, dtype, (ubuf, buf.st.to_uop()))
-
-  # only reduceop changes shape
-  src: List[UOp] = []
-  for x in buf.srcs:
-    u = _recursive_uop(x.base, outputs, inputs, buf_uops, cache)
-    src.append(u if x is x.base else u.view(x.st))
+    return UOp.load(ubuf, buf.st.to_uop(), dtype=dtype)
+  src = tuple(to_uop(x, outputs, inputs, buf_uops, cache) for x in buf.srcs)
   if buf.op in ReduceOps: ret = src[0].r(buf.op, buf.arg)
   elif buf.op is MetaOps.CONTIGUOUS: ret = UOp(UOps.CONTIGUOUS, dtype, (buf_uops[buf.buffer], src[0]))
   elif buf.op is MetaOps.ASSIGN: ret = UOp(UOps.ASSIGN, dtype, (buf_uops[buf.buffer], src[1]))
-  elif buf.op is UnaryOps.CAST: ret = src[0].cast(dtype)
-  elif buf.op is UnaryOps.BITCAST: ret = src[0].bitcast(dtype)
-  else: ret = UOp(UOps.ALU, dtype, tuple(src), buf.op)
+  elif buf.op is UnaryOps.CAST: ret = UOp(UOps.CAST, dtype, src)
+  elif buf.op is UnaryOps.BITCAST: ret = UOp(UOps.BITCAST, dtype, src)
+  else: ret = UOp(UOps.ALU, dtype, src, buf.op)
   cache[buf] = ret
   return ret
 
@@ -180,7 +175,7 @@ def _lower_lazybuffer(outs:List[LazyBuffer], buf_uops:Dict[Buffer, UOp], var_val
   ast: List[UOp] = []
   inputs: List[LazyBuffer] = []
   for out in outs:
-    src = _recursive_uop(out, outs, inputs, buf_uops, cache)
+    src = to_uop(out, outs, inputs, buf_uops, cache)
     if out.op is MetaOps.ASSIGN and out.arg:
       assert out.arg[0].shape == out.shape, f"ASSIGN must not override output shape {out.arg[0].shape} != {out.shape}"
       output_st = out.arg[0]
@@ -193,7 +188,8 @@ def _lower_lazybuffer(outs:List[LazyBuffer], buf_uops:Dict[Buffer, UOp], var_val
         and ShapeTracker.from_shape(s.shape).shrink(m) == s.shrink(m)) for x in sink.sparents if x.op is UOps.LOAD and x.src[0] in assign_targets):
       raise RuntimeError("self operand of augmented assign must be contiguous.\nhelp: consider using .contiguous():\n"
                          +colored("   - a += a.T\n", "red")+colored("   + a += a.T.contiguous()", "green"))
-  return LBScheduleItem(sink, tuple(outs+inputs), tuple(dedup([x.metadata for x in cache if x.metadata and x not in inputs])))
+  return LBScheduleItem(sink, tuple(outs+inputs),
+                        tuple(dedup([x.metadata for x in cache if x.metadata is not None and (x.base in outs or x.base.buffer not in buf_uops)])))
 
 # *** DAG creation: decide which LazyBuffers should realize ***