A computer processing unit is provided that includes an apparatus for generating an address of the next instruction to be completed. The apparatus includes a first table for storing a plurality of entries each corresponding to a dispatched instruction, each entry comprising an identifier that identifies the corresponding instruction and a status bit that indicates if the corresponding instruction is completed; a second table for storing a plurality of entries each corresponding to dispatched branch instructions, each entry comprising the same identifier stored in the first table, a target address of the dispatched branch instruction and a resolution status field that indicates at least if the corresponding branch instruction has been resolved taken or has been resolved not taken; program counter update logic that, in each machine cycle, updates a program counter to store and output the address of the next instruction to be completed according to the entries stored in the first table and the second table. Because the first and second tables employ efficient identification tags to identify instructions that modify the control flow of the execution pipeline and the target address of such instructions, the computer processing unit of the present invention need not store the full address of each instruction in the execution pipeline to update the program counter as is conventional, and thus saves real estate that may be used for other circuitry.