diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/expected_synth.yml b/.gitlab-ci/expected_synth.yml
index 789c2862043..6a18dddc3d0 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci/expected_synth.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/expected_synth.yml
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@ cv64a6_imafdc_sv39:
 cv32a60x:
   gates: 160719
 cv32a6_embedded:
-  gates: 127774
+  gates: 127613
diff --git a/core/csr_regfile.sv b/core/csr_regfile.sv
index a18d7078ea2..88b33025432 100644
--- a/core/csr_regfile.sv
+++ b/core/csr_regfile.sv
@@ -872,7 +872,7 @@ module csr_regfile import ariane_pkg::*; #(
                     // index is specified by the last byte in the address
                     automatic int index = csr_addr.csr_decode.address[3:0];
                     // check if the entry or the entry above is locked
-                    if (!pmpcfg_q[index].locked && !(pmpcfg_q[index].locked && pmpcfg_q[index].addr_mode == riscv::TOR)) begin
+                    if (!pmpcfg_q[index].locked && !(pmpcfg_q[index+1].locked && pmpcfg_q[index].addr_mode == riscv::TOR)) begin
                         pmpaddr_d[index] = csr_wdata[riscv::PLEN-3:0];
                     end
                 end
diff --git a/core/cva6.sv b/core/cva6.sv
index 60be5f6e692..e0f642d2434 100644
--- a/core/cva6.sv
+++ b/core/cva6.sv
@@ -929,7 +929,7 @@ module cva6 import ariane_pkg::*; #(
   // Cache Subsystem
   // -------------------
 
-  if (DCACHE_TYPE == int'(cva6_config_pkg::WT)) begin
+  if (DCACHE_TYPE == int'(cva6_config_pkg::WT)) begin : gen_cache_wt
   // this is a cache subsystem that is compatible with OpenPiton
   wt_cache_subsystem #(
     .CVA6Cfg              ( CVA6ExtendCfg ),
@@ -971,7 +971,7 @@ module cva6 import ariane_pkg::*; #(
     .inval_valid_i         ( inval_valid                 ),
     .inval_ready_o         ( inval_ready                 )
   );
-  end else begin
+  end else begin : gen_cache_wb
 
   std_cache_subsystem #(
     // note: this only works with one cacheable region
diff --git a/core/frontend/frontend.sv b/core/frontend/frontend.sv
index 8edfca4ed29..f3b921bdb03 100644
--- a/core/frontend/frontend.sv
+++ b/core/frontend/frontend.sv
@@ -126,22 +126,26 @@ module frontend import ariane_pkg::*; #(
       .addr_o              ( addr                  ),
       .instr_o             ( instr                 )
     );
+
     // --------------------
     // Branch Prediction
     // --------------------
     // select the right branch prediction result
     // in case we are serving an unaligned instruction in instr[0] we need to take
     // the prediction we saved from the previous fetch
-    assign bht_prediction_shifted[0] = (serving_unaligned) ? bht_q : bht_prediction[addr[0][1]];
-    assign btb_prediction_shifted[0] = (serving_unaligned) ? btb_q : btb_prediction[addr[0][1]];
-
     if (CVA6Cfg.RVC) begin : gen_btb_prediction_shifted
+      assign bht_prediction_shifted[0] = (serving_unaligned) ? bht_q : bht_prediction[addr[0][$clog2(INSTR_PER_FETCH):1]];
+      assign btb_prediction_shifted[0] = (serving_unaligned) ? btb_q : btb_prediction[addr[0][$clog2(INSTR_PER_FETCH):1]];
+
       // for all other predictions we can use the generated address to index
       // into the branch prediction data structures
       for (genvar i = 1; i < INSTR_PER_FETCH; i++) begin : gen_prediction_address
         assign bht_prediction_shifted[i] = bht_prediction[addr[i][$clog2(INSTR_PER_FETCH):1]];
         assign btb_prediction_shifted[i] = btb_prediction[addr[i][$clog2(INSTR_PER_FETCH):1]];
       end
+    end else begin
+      assign bht_prediction_shifted[0] = (serving_unaligned) ? bht_q : bht_prediction[addr[0][1]];
+      assign btb_prediction_shifted[0] = (serving_unaligned) ? btb_q : btb_prediction[addr[0][1]];
     end;
 
     // for the return address stack it doens't matter as we have the
@@ -394,7 +398,7 @@ module frontend import ariane_pkg::*; #(
 
     if (ArianeCfg.RASDepth == 0) begin
       assign ras_predict = '0;
-    end else begin
+    end else begin : ras_gen
       ras #(
         .DEPTH  ( ArianeCfg.RASDepth  )
       ) i_ras (
@@ -415,7 +419,7 @@ module frontend import ariane_pkg::*; #(
 
     if (ArianeCfg.BTBEntries == 0) begin
       assign btb_prediction = '0;
-    end else begin
+    end else begin : btb_gen
       btb #(
         .NR_ENTRIES       ( ArianeCfg.BTBEntries   )
       ) i_btb (
@@ -431,7 +435,7 @@ module frontend import ariane_pkg::*; #(
 
     if (ArianeCfg.BHTEntries == 0) begin
       assign bht_prediction = '0;
-    end else begin
+    end else begin : bht_gen
       bht #(
         .NR_ENTRIES       ( ArianeCfg.BHTEntries   )
       ) i_bht (