diff --git a/lfs3.c b/lfs3.c
index 7bcf3d63..4726d4ec 100644
--- a/lfs3.c
+++ b/lfs3.c
@@ -17027,27 +17027,16 @@ int lfs3_fs_cksum(lfs3_t *lfs3, uint32_t *cksum) {
 static int lfs3_fs_gc_(lfs3_t *lfs3, lfs3_mgc_t *mgc,
         uint32_t flags, lfs3_soff_t steps) {
     // unknown gc flags?
-    //
-    // we should have check these earlier, but it doesn't hurt to
-    // double check
-    LFS3_ASSERT((flags & ~(
-            LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_T_MKCONSISTENT)
-                | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_T_REPOPLOOKAHEAD)
-                | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0,
-                    LFS3_IFDEF_GBMAP(LFS3_T_REPOPGBMAP, 0))
-                | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_T_COMPACTMETA)
-                | LFS3_T_CKMETA
-                | LFS3_T_CKDATA)) == 0);
+    LFS3_ASSERT((flags & ~LFS3_GC_ALL) == 0);
     // these flags require a writable filesystem
-    LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_m_isrdonly(lfs3->flags) || !lfs3_t_ismkconsistent(flags));
+    LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_m_isrdonly(lfs3->flags)
+            || !lfs3_t_ismkconsistent(flags));
     LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_m_isrdonly(lfs3->flags)
             || !lfs3_t_isrepoplookahead(flags));
-    LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_m_isrdonly(lfs3->flags) || !lfs3_t_isrepopgbmap(flags));
-    LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_m_isrdonly(lfs3->flags) || !lfs3_t_compactmeta(flags));
-    // some flags don't make sense when only traversing the mtree
-    LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_t_ismtreeonly(flags) || !lfs3_t_isrepoplookahead(flags));
-    LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_t_ismtreeonly(flags) || !lfs3_t_isrepopgbmap(flags));
-    LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_t_ismtreeonly(flags) || !lfs3_t_isckdata(flags));
+    LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_m_isrdonly(lfs3->flags)
+            || !lfs3_t_isrepopgbmap(flags));
+    LFS3_ASSERT(!lfs3_m_isrdonly(lfs3->flags)
+            || !lfs3_t_compactmeta(flags));
 
     // fix pending grms if requested
     #ifndef LFS3_RDONLY
@@ -17061,15 +17050,7 @@ static int lfs3_fs_gc_(lfs3_t *lfs3, lfs3_mgc_t *mgc,
     #endif
 
     // do we have any pending work?
-    uint32_t pending = flags & (
-            (lfs3->flags & (
-                LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_I_MKCONSISTENT)
-                    | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_I_REPOPLOOKAHEAD)
-                    | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0,
-                        LFS3_IFDEF_GBMAP(LFS3_I_REPOPGBMAP, 0))
-                    | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_I_COMPACTMETA)
-                    | LFS3_I_CKMETA
-                    | LFS3_I_CKDATA)));
+    uint32_t pending = flags & (lfs3->flags & LFS3_GC_ALL);
 
     while (pending && (lfs3_off_t)steps > 0) {
         // start a new traversal?
@@ -17089,25 +17070,18 @@ static int lfs3_fs_gc_(lfs3_t *lfs3, lfs3_mgc_t *mgc,
         #endif
 
         // will this traversal still make progress? no? start over
-        if (!(mgc->t.b.h.flags & (
-                LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_T_MKCONSISTENT)
-                    | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_T_REPOPLOOKAHEAD)
-                    | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0,
-                        LFS3_IFDEF_GBMAP(LFS3_T_REPOPGBMAP, 0))
-                    | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_T_COMPACTMETA)
-                    | LFS3_T_CKMETA
-                    | LFS3_T_CKDATA))) {
+        if (!(mgc->t.b.h.flags & LFS3_GC_ALL)) {
             lfs3_handle_close(lfs3, &mgc->t.b.h);
             continue;
         }
 
         // do we really need a full traversal?
         if (!(mgc->t.b.h.flags & (
-                LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_T_REPOPLOOKAHEAD)
+                LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_GC_REPOPLOOKAHEAD)
                     | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0,
-                        LFS3_IFDEF_GBMAP(LFS3_T_REPOPGBMAP, 0))
-                    | LFS3_T_CKMETA
-                    | LFS3_T_CKDATA))) {
+                        LFS3_IFDEF_GBMAP(LFS3_GC_REPOPGBMAP, 0))
+                    | LFS3_GC_CKMETA
+                    | LFS3_GC_CKDATA))) {
             mgc->t.b.h.flags |= LFS3_T_MTREEONLY;
         }
 
@@ -17124,14 +17098,7 @@ static int lfs3_fs_gc_(lfs3_t *lfs3, lfs3_mgc_t *mgc,
             lfs3_handle_close(lfs3, &mgc->t.b.h);
 
             // clear any pending flags we make progress on
-            pending &= lfs3->flags & (
-                    LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_I_MKCONSISTENT)
-                        | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_I_REPOPLOOKAHEAD)
-                        | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0,
-                            LFS3_IFDEF_GBMAP(LFS3_I_REPOPGBMAP, 0))
-                        | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_I_COMPACTMETA)
-                        | LFS3_I_CKMETA
-                        | LFS3_I_CKDATA);
+            pending &= lfs3->flags & LFS3_GC_ALL;
         }
 
         // decrement steps
diff --git a/lfs3.h b/lfs3.h
index 6a6c3224..8ab72a6a 100644
--- a/lfs3.h
+++ b/lfs3.h
@@ -369,6 +369,16 @@ enum lfs3_btype {
 #define LFS3_GC_CKMETA  0x00001000  // Check metadata checksums
 #define LFS3_GC_CKDATA  0x00002000  // Check metadata + data checksums
 
+// an alias for all possible GC work
+#define LFS3_GC_ALL ( \
+        LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_GC_MKCONSISTENT) \
+            | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_GC_REPOPLOOKAHEAD) \
+            | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, \
+                LFS3_IFDEF_GBMAP(LFS3_GC_REPOPGBMAP, 0)) \
+            | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_GC_COMPACTMETA) \
+            | LFS3_GC_CKMETA \
+            | LFS3_GC_CKDATA)
+
 
 // Configuration provided during initialization of the littlefs
 struct lfs3_cfg {
diff --git a/runners/bench_runner.h b/runners/bench_runner.h
index e46b2a3a..fbb2de77 100644
--- a/runners/bench_runner.h
+++ b/runners/bench_runner.h
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ void bench_permutation(size_t i, uint32_t *buffer, size_t size);
     BENCH_DEFINE(PCACHE_SIZE,           LFS3_MAX(16, PROG_SIZE)             ) \
     BENCH_DEFINE(FILE_CACHE_SIZE,       16                                  ) \
     BENCH_DEFINE(LOOKAHEAD_SIZE,        16                                  ) \
-    BENCH_DEFINE(GC_FLAGS,              0                                   ) \
+    BENCH_DEFINE(GC_FLAGS,              LFS3_GC_ALL                         ) \
     BENCH_DEFINE(GC_STEPS,              0                                   ) \
     BENCH_DEFINE(GC_COMPACTMETA_THRESH, 0                                   ) \
     BENCH_DEFINE(SHRUB_SIZE,            BLOCK_SIZE/4                        ) \
diff --git a/runners/test_runner.h b/runners/test_runner.h
index 832cabc9..3c4ca35d 100644
--- a/runners/test_runner.h
+++ b/runners/test_runner.h
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ void test_permutation(size_t i, uint32_t *buffer, size_t size);
     TEST_DEFINE(PCACHE_SIZE,            LFS3_MAX(16, PROG_SIZE)              ) \
     TEST_DEFINE(FILE_CACHE_SIZE,        16                                   ) \
     TEST_DEFINE(LOOKAHEAD_SIZE,         16                                   ) \
-    TEST_DEFINE(GC_FLAGS,               0                                    ) \
+    TEST_DEFINE(GC_FLAGS,               LFS3_GC_ALL                          ) \
     TEST_DEFINE(GC_STEPS,               0                                    ) \
     TEST_DEFINE(GC_COMPACTMETA_THRESH,  0                                    ) \
     TEST_DEFINE(SHRUB_SIZE,             BLOCK_SIZE/4                         ) \