diff --git a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/defunctionalize.rs b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/defunctionalize.rs
index 754e550af9..3062edfe60 100644
--- a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/defunctionalize.rs
+++ b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/defunctionalize.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ use std::collections::{BTreeMap, BTreeSet, HashSet};
 
 use acvm::FieldElement;
 use iter_extended::vecmap;
+use noirc_frontend::monomorphization::ast::InlineType;
 
 use crate::ssa::{
     function_builder::FunctionBuilder,
@@ -277,7 +278,7 @@ fn function_id_to_field(function_id: FunctionId) -> FieldElement {
 fn create_apply_function(
     ssa: &mut Ssa,
     signature: Signature,
-    runtime: RuntimeType,
+    caller_runtime: RuntimeType,
     function_ids: Vec<FunctionId>,
 ) -> FunctionId {
     assert!(!function_ids.is_empty());
@@ -285,6 +286,12 @@ fn create_apply_function(
     ssa.add_fn(|id| {
         let mut function_builder = FunctionBuilder::new("apply".to_string(), id);
         function_builder.set_globals(globals);
+
+        // We want to push for apply functions to be inlined more aggressively.
+        let runtime = match caller_runtime {
+            RuntimeType::Acir(_) => RuntimeType::Acir(InlineType::InlineAlways),
+            RuntimeType::Brillig(_) => RuntimeType::Brillig(InlineType::InlineAlways),
+        };
         function_builder.set_runtime(runtime);
         let target_id = function_builder.add_parameter(Type::field());
         let params_ids = vecmap(signature.params, |typ| function_builder.add_parameter(typ));
diff --git a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/inlining.rs b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/inlining.rs
index b5cbc90e30..5d97a41616 100644
--- a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/inlining.rs
+++ b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/inlining.rs
@@ -66,22 +66,27 @@ impl Ssa {
         self.functions = btree_map(inline_sources, |entry_point| {
             let should_inline_call =
                 |_context: &PerFunctionContext, ssa: &Ssa, called_func_id: FunctionId| -> bool {
-                    let function = &ssa.functions[&called_func_id];
+                    let callee = &ssa.functions[&called_func_id];
+                    let caller_runtime = ssa.functions[entry_point].runtime();
 
-                    match function.runtime() {
+                    match callee.runtime() {
                         RuntimeType::Acir(inline_type) => {
                             // If the called function is acir, we inline if it's not an entry point
 
                             // If we have not already finished the flattening pass, functions marked
                             // to not have predicates should be preserved.
                             let preserve_function =
-                                !inline_no_predicates_functions && function.is_no_predicates();
+                                !inline_no_predicates_functions && callee.is_no_predicates();
                             !inline_type.is_entry_point() && !preserve_function
                         }
                         RuntimeType::Brillig(_) => {
-                            // If the called function is brillig, we inline only if it's into brillig and the function is not recursive
-                            ssa.functions[entry_point].runtime().is_brillig()
-                                && !inline_sources.contains(&called_func_id)
+                            if caller_runtime.is_acir() {
+                                // We never inline a brillig function into an ACIR function.
+                                return false;
+                            }
+
+                            // Avoid inlining recursive functions.
+                            !inline_sources.contains(&called_func_id)
                         }
                     }
                 };