diff --git a/src/cfg/liveness-traversal.h b/src/cfg/liveness-traversal.h
index 49e8532220c..7bae2cbaf48 100644
--- a/src/cfg/liveness-traversal.h
+++ b/src/cfg/liveness-traversal.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 #include "cfg-traversal.h"
 #include "ir/utils.h"
+#include "rpo.h"
 #include "support/sorted_vector.h"
 #include "support/sparse_square_matrix.h"
 #include "wasm-builder.h"
@@ -82,6 +83,10 @@ struct LivenessAction {
 
 // information about liveness in a basic block
 struct Liveness {
+  // For POQueue
+  bool inQueue;
+  Index index;
+
   SetOfLocals start, end;              // live locals at the start and end
   std::vector<LivenessAction> actions; // actions occurring in this block
 
@@ -220,12 +225,12 @@ struct LivenessWalker : public CFGWalker<SubType, VisitorType, Liveness> {
 
   void flowLiveness() {
     // keep working while stuff is flowing
-    std::unordered_set<BasicBlock*> queue;
+    POQueue<LivenessWalker<SubType, VisitorType>> queue(*this);
     for (auto& curr : CFGWalker<SubType, VisitorType, Liveness>::basicBlocks) {
       if (!liveBlocks.contains(curr.get())) {
         continue; // ignore dead blocks
       }
-      queue.insert(curr.get());
+      queue.push(curr.get());
       // do the first scan through the block, starting with nothing live at the
       // end, and updating the liveness at the start
       scanLivenessThroughActions(curr->contents.actions, curr->contents.start);
@@ -233,10 +238,8 @@ struct LivenessWalker : public CFGWalker<SubType, VisitorType, Liveness> {
     // at every point in time, we assume we already noted interferences between
     // things already known alive at the end, and scanned back through the block
     // using that
-    while (queue.size() > 0) {
-      auto iter = queue.begin();
-      auto* curr = *iter;
-      queue.erase(iter);
+    while (!queue.empty()) {
+      auto* curr = queue.pop();
       SetOfLocals live;
       if (!mergeStartsAndCheckChange(curr->out, curr->contents.end, live)) {
         continue;
@@ -252,7 +255,7 @@ struct LivenessWalker : public CFGWalker<SubType, VisitorType, Liveness> {
       assert(curr->contents.start.size() < live.size());
       curr->contents.start = live;
       for (auto* in : curr->in) {
-        queue.insert(in);
+        queue.push(in);
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/cfg/rpo.h b/src/cfg/rpo.h
index f99f5543ac3..b1a6cf3d7cf 100644
--- a/src/cfg/rpo.h
+++ b/src/cfg/rpo.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ namespace wasm {
 //   bool inQueue; // whether already in the queue
 //   Index index;  // basic block index
 //
-template<typename CFG> struct RPOQueue {
+template<typename CFG, typename Compare = std::greater<Index>> struct RPOQueue {
   CFG& cfg;
 
   RPOQueue(CFG& cfg) : cfg(cfg) {
@@ -55,9 +55,9 @@ template<typename CFG> struct RPOQueue {
     }
   }
 
-  std::priority_queue<Index, std::vector<Index>, std::greater<Index>> queue;
+  std::priority_queue<Index, std::vector<Index>, Compare> queue;
 
-  void push(CFG::BasicBlock* block) {
+  void push(typename CFG::BasicBlock* block) {
     // Push if not already in the queue.
     if (!block->contents.inQueue) {
       block->contents.inQueue = true;
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ template<typename CFG> struct RPOQueue {
     }
   }
 
-  CFG::BasicBlock* pop() {
-    // Pop the smallest element (next in RPO), which is at the top.
+  typename CFG::BasicBlock* pop() {
+    // Pop the top element.
     auto* block = cfg.basicBlocks[queue.top()].get();
     queue.pop();
     block->contents.inQueue = false;
@@ -76,6 +76,13 @@ template<typename CFG> struct RPOQueue {
   bool empty() const { return queue.empty(); }
 };
 
+// A queue that works in postorder (the reverse of RPO), which is useful when
+// flowing information backwards through the CFG (such as in liveness analysis).
+// By processing blocks with higher RPO indexes first, we process successors
+// before predecessors, and fully process loops and diamonds before flowing data
+// backwards to earlier blocks in the CFG.
+template<typename CFG> using POQueue = RPOQueue<CFG, std::less<Index>>;
+
 } // namespace wasm
 
 #endif // cfg_rpo_h