diff --git a/src/vm/instruction_decoder.cpp b/src/vm/instruction_decoder.cpp
index b975d81..34fbe8a 100644
--- a/src/vm/instruction_decoder.cpp
+++ b/src/vm/instruction_decoder.cpp
@@ -85,15 +85,13 @@ void decoder::populate_decoding_tree(decoding_tree_node& parent) {
 }
 uint32_t decoder::decode_instr(uint32_t word) { return _decode_instr(this->root, word); }
 uint32_t decoder::_decode_instr(decoding_tree_node const& node, uint32_t word) {
-    if(!node.children.size()) {
-        if(node.instrs.size() == 1)
-            return node.instrs[0].index;
-        for(auto instr : node.instrs) {
+    if(!node.instrs.empty()) {
+        for(auto& instr : node.instrs) {
             if((instr.mask & word) == instr.value)
                 return instr.index;
         }
-    } else {
-        for(auto child : node.children) {
+    } else if(!node.children.empty()) {
+        for(auto& child : node.children) {
             if(child.value == (node.submask & word)) {
                 return _decode_instr(child, word);
             }