diff --git a/backends/GenerateC.hs b/backends/GenerateC.hs
index 544e7c0..9029dbb 100644
--- a/backends/GenerateC.hs
+++ b/backends/GenerateC.hs
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ import Utils
 
 --{{{  passes related to C generation
 genCPasses :: [Pass]
-genCPasses = makePasses
+genCPasses = makePasses' ((== BackendC) . csBackend)
   [ ("Identify parallel processes", identifyParProcs)
    ,("Transform wait for guards into wait until guards", transformWaitFor)
   ]
diff --git a/backends/GenerateCPPCSP.hs b/backends/GenerateCPPCSP.hs
index 2e1a60b..5925d8d 100644
--- a/backends/GenerateCPPCSP.hs
+++ b/backends/GenerateCPPCSP.hs
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ cppgenOps = cgenOps {
 --}}}
 
 genCPPCSPPasses :: [Pass]
-genCPPCSPPasses = makePasses
+genCPPCSPPasses = makePasses' ((== BackendCPPCSP) . csBackend)
   [ ("Transform channels to ANY", chansToAny)
   ]
 
diff --git a/common/Pass.hs b/common/Pass.hs
index d6a18bc..3964b8e 100644
--- a/common/Pass.hs
+++ b/common/Pass.hs
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ data Monad m => Pass_ m = Pass {
  ,passName :: String 
  ,passPre :: Set.Set Property
  ,passPost :: Set.Set Property
+ ,passEnabled :: CompState -> Bool
 }
   
 type Pass = Pass_ PassM
@@ -82,7 +83,10 @@ runPassR p t
                   Right result -> tell w >> return result
 
 makePasses :: [(String, A.AST -> PassM A.AST)] -> [Pass]
-makePasses = map (\(s, p) -> Pass p s Set.empty Set.empty)
+makePasses = map (\(s, p) -> Pass p s Set.empty Set.empty (const True))
+
+makePasses' :: (CompState -> Bool) -> [(String, A.AST -> PassM A.AST)] -> [Pass]
+makePasses' f = map (\(s, p) -> Pass p s Set.empty Set.empty f)
 
 -- | Compose a list of passes into a single pass.
 -- TODO this needs to examine dependencies rather than running them in order!
diff --git a/common/PassList.hs b/common/PassList.hs
index b56a269..70d6b65 100644
--- a/common/PassList.hs
+++ b/common/PassList.hs
@@ -34,21 +34,20 @@ import Unnest
 commonPasses :: CompState -> [Pass]
 commonPasses opts = concat $
   [ simplifyTypes
-  ] ++ (if csUsageChecking opts then [makePasses [("Usage checking", runPassR usageCheckPass)]] else []) ++
-  [ simplifyExprs
+  , makePasses' csUsageChecking [("Usage checking", runPassR usageCheckPass)]
+  , simplifyExprs
   , simplifyProcs
   , unnest
   , simplifyComms
   ]
 
+filterPasses :: CompState -> [Pass] -> [Pass]
+filterPasses opts = filter (\p -> passEnabled p opts)
 
 getPassList :: CompState -> [Pass]
-getPassList optsPS     = concat [ if csFrontend optsPS == FrontendRain
-                                    then rainPasses
-                                    else []
+getPassList optsPS = filterPasses optsPS $ concat
+                                [ rainPasses
                                 , commonPasses optsPS
-                                , case csBackend optsPS of
-                                    BackendC -> genCPasses
-                                    BackendCPPCSP -> genCPPCSPPasses
-                                    _ -> []
+                                , genCPasses
+                                , genCPPCSPPasses
                                 ]
diff --git a/frontends/RainPasses.hs b/frontends/RainPasses.hs
index 96267d1..b3e095c 100644
--- a/frontends/RainPasses.hs
+++ b/frontends/RainPasses.hs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import Types
 
 -- | An ordered list of the Rain-specific passes to be run.
 rainPasses :: [Pass]
-rainPasses = makePasses
+rainPasses = makePasses' ((== FrontendRain) . csFrontend)
      [ ("AST Validity check, Rain #1", excludeNonRainFeatures)
        ,("Resolve Int -> Int64",transformInt)
        ,("Uniquify variable declarations, record declared types and resolve variable names",uniquifyAndResolveVars) --depends on transformInt