diff --git a/tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_functional_ops.cc b/tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_functional_ops.cc
index 394477e2e89..8fe1635911c 100644
--- a/tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_functional_ops.cc
+++ b/tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_functional_ops.cc
@@ -20,9 +20,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 #include "tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_function_call_op.h"
 #include "tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_if_op.h"
 #include "tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_while_op.h"
-#include "tensorflow/core/framework/node_def_builder.h"
 #include "tensorflow/core/graph/graph.h"
-#include "tensorflow/core/graph/node_builder.h"
 #include "tensorflow/core/public/session_options.h"
 
 namespace tensorflow {
@@ -122,6 +120,16 @@ Status LowerFunctionalOpsPass::Run(
       (options.session_options->config.experimental().executor_type() ==
        "SINGLE_THREADED_EXECUTOR");
 
+  // Returns true if `node` will be used for XLA compilation.
+  const auto used_by_xla = [](Node* node) -> bool {
+    return MarkedForTpuCompilation(node) || MarkedForXlaCompilation(node);
+  };
+
+  // Returns true if control flow `node` should be lowered to Switch/Merge.
+  const auto lower_control_flow = [&](Node* node) -> bool {
+    return LowerUsingSwitchMergeIsOn(node) && !used_by_xla(node);
+  };
+
   // Lower all If, Case, While ops that have the `kLowerUsingSwitchMergeAttr`
   // attr set and inline all function calls into the graph.
   // We start at `i` = 2 to skip the source and sink nodes.
@@ -132,31 +140,34 @@ Status LowerFunctionalOpsPass::Run(
   for (int i = 2; i < g->num_node_ids(); ++i) {
     Node* n = g->FindNodeId(i);
     if (n == nullptr) continue;  // deleted node
-    if (MarkedForTpuCompilation(n)) continue;
-    if (MarkedForXlaCompilation(n)) continue;
 
-    // Always lower function calls produces by lowering If/While nodes.
-    if (IsFunctionCall(*flib_def, *n) &&
+    // Always lower function calls produced by lowering If/While nodes.
+    if (IsFunctionCall(*flib_def, *n) && !used_by_xla(n) &&
         (lower_function_calls || LowerAsMultiDeviceFunctionIsOn(n))) {
       TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(RewriteFunctionCallNode(n, g, *flib_def,
                                                  keep_lowered_nodes_fetchable));
       continue;
     }
 
-    if (!functional_control_flow && LowerUsingSwitchMergeIsOn(n)) {
-      if (n->IsIfNode()) {
-        TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(RewriteIfNode(n, g, keep_lowered_nodes_fetchable));
-      } else if (n->type_string() == "Case") {
-        TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(RewriteCaseNode(n, g, keep_lowered_nodes_fetchable));
-      } else if (n->IsWhileNode()) {
-        TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(
-            RewriteWhileNode(n, g, keep_lowered_nodes_fetchable));
-      } else {
-        return errors::Internal(
-            "Node ", FormatNodeForError(*n), " of type ", n->type_string(),
-            " has '", LowerFunctionalOpsPass::kLowerUsingSwitchMergeAttr,
-            "' attr set but it does not support lowering.\n");
-      }
+    // If we are allowed to used function control flow, we do not need to check
+    // for If/While/Case nodes in the graph.
+    if (functional_control_flow) continue;
+
+    if (n->IsIfNode() && lower_control_flow(n)) {
+      TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(RewriteIfNode(n, g, keep_lowered_nodes_fetchable));
+
+    } else if (n->type_string() == "Case" && lower_control_flow(n)) {
+      TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(RewriteCaseNode(n, g, keep_lowered_nodes_fetchable));
+
+    } else if (n->IsWhileNode() && lower_control_flow(n)) {
+      TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(RewriteWhileNode(n, g, keep_lowered_nodes_fetchable));
+
+    } else {
+      DCHECK(!lower_control_flow(n))
+          << "Node " << FormatNodeForError(*n) << " of type "
+          << n->type_string() << " has '"
+          << LowerFunctionalOpsPass::kLowerUsingSwitchMergeAttr
+          << "' attr set but it does not support lowering.\n";
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_functional_ops_test.cc b/tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_functional_ops_test.cc
index 9bef90a01e4..21f2a5e82d8 100644
--- a/tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_functional_ops_test.cc
+++ b/tensorflow/core/common_runtime/lower_functional_ops_test.cc
@@ -326,25 +326,5 @@ TEST(LowerIfWhileTest, WhileInCond) {
   }
 }
 
-TEST(LowerIfWhileTest, RaisesWhenLoweringUnhandledOpType) {
-  std::unique_ptr<Graph> graph(new Graph(OpRegistry::Global()));
-
-  Scope root = Scope::NewRootScope().ExitOnError();
-  Node* const_node;
-  Tensor const_val(DT_INT32, TensorShape({}));
-  const_val.scalar<int32>()() = 1;
-  TF_ASSERT_OK(NodeBuilder("const", "Const")
-                   .Attr("value", const_val)
-                   .Attr("dtype", const_val.dtype())
-                   .Attr(kLowerUsingSwitchMergeAttr, true)
-                   .Finalize(root.graph(), &const_node));
-  TF_ASSERT_OK(root.DoShapeInference(const_node));
-  TF_ASSERT_OK(root.ToGraph(graph.get()));
-
-  Status s = Rewrite(&graph);
-  ASSERT_EQ(s.code(), error::INTERNAL);
-  AssertHasSubstr(s.error_message(), "does not support lowering");
-}
-
 }  // namespace
 }  // namespace tensorflow