diff --git a/test/test_uop_graph.py b/test/test_uop_graph.py
index b488ddac9a..34abdd356b 100644
--- a/test/test_uop_graph.py
+++ b/test/test_uop_graph.py
@@ -169,11 +169,11 @@ class TestGraphRewrite(unittest.TestCase):
   def test_commutative_work(self):
     a = UOp.variable('a', 0, 1)
     b = UOp.variable('b', 0, 1)
-    self.assertIs(a+b, b+a)
+    self.assertIs((a+b).simplify(), (b+a).simplify())
 
   def test_consts_go_last_right_away(self):
     a = UOp.variable('a', 0, 1)
-    tst = 2+a
+    tst = (2+a).simplify()
     self.assertIs(tst.src[0], a)
     self.assertIs(tst.src[1], a.const_like(2))
 
diff --git a/tinygrad/ops.py b/tinygrad/ops.py
index e3646fbfaf..4967ef0e64 100644
--- a/tinygrad/ops.py
+++ b/tinygrad/ops.py
@@ -192,8 +192,6 @@ def pretty_print(x:Any, rep:Callable, srcfn=lambda x: x.src, cache=None, d=0)->s
 class UOpMetaClass(type):
   ucache:WeakValueDictionary[Tuple, UOp] = WeakValueDictionary()
   def __call__(cls, op:UOps, dtype:DType=dtypes.void, src:Tuple[UOp,...]=tuple(), arg:Any=None):
-    if op is UOps.ALU and arg in COMMUTATIVE and (src[0] is not src[1] and src[1].tuplize < src[0].tuplize and src[0].op is not UOps.NOOP):
-      src = src[::-1]
     if (ret:=UOpMetaClass.ucache.get(key:=(op, dtype, src, arg), None)) is not None: return ret
     UOpMetaClass.ucache[key] = ret = super().__call__(op, dtype, src, arg)
     return ret
@@ -954,7 +952,7 @@ def uop_given_valid(valid:UOp, uop:UOp) -> Optional[UOp]:
 
     for candidate in candidates:
       # if every branch in candidate gives the same simplified uop, we can rewrite the uop
-      newuops = [graph_rewrite(uop.substitute({X:newX}), symbolic_flat).substitute({newX:X}) for X,newX in candidate]
+      newuops = [uop.substitute({X:newX}).simplify().substitute({newX:X}).simplify() for X,newX in candidate]
       if uop.op is UOps.VECTORIZE and len(uop.src) == 2:
         if all_same([uops.src[0] for uops in newuops]): uop = uop.replace(src=(newuops[0].src[0], uop.src[1]))
         if all_same([uops.src[1] for uops in newuops]): uop = uop.replace(src=(uop.src[0], newuops[0].src[1]))
@@ -1001,6 +999,9 @@ symbolic = PatternMatcher([
   # ** constant folding **
   (UPat(UOps.ALU, name="root", src=UPat((UOps.VCONST, UOps.CONST))),
    lambda root: root.const_like(exec_alu(root.arg, root.dtype, [x.arg for x in root.src], truncate_output=False))),
+  # ** COMMUTATIVE flipping **
+  *[(UPat(UOps.ALU, arg=cc, name='x'), lambda x: x.replace(src=x.src[::-1]) if x.src[0] is not x.src[1] \
+   and x.src[1].tuplize < x.src[0].tuplize else None) for cc in COMMUTATIVE],
   # bool MUL is AND, ADD/MAX is OR. prevents other rules to rewrite bool ADD/MUL incorrectly
   (UPat.var('x', dtype=dtypes.bool) * UPat.var('y'), lambda x,y: x&y),
   (UPat.var('x', dtype=dtypes.bool) + UPat.var('y'), lambda x,y: x|y),