diff --git a/pkg/payload/task_graph.go b/pkg/payload/task_graph.go
index 8b685894b9..4637c7bbc9 100644
--- a/pkg/payload/task_graph.go
+++ b/pkg/payload/task_graph.go
@@ -5,14 +5,12 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"math/rand"
 	"regexp"
-	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 
-	"k8s.io/klog"
-
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
 	utilruntime "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/klog"
 )
 
 // SplitOnJobs enforces the rule that any Job in the payload prevents reordering or parallelism (either before or after)
@@ -426,180 +424,128 @@ type runTasks struct {
 }
 
 type taskStatus struct {
-	index   int
-	success bool
+	index int
+	error error
 }
 
 // RunGraph executes the provided graph in order and in parallel up to maxParallelism. It will not start
 // a new TaskNode until all of the prerequisites have completed. If fn returns an error, no dependencies
 // of that node will be executed, but other indepedent edges will continue executing.
 func RunGraph(ctx context.Context, graph *TaskGraph, maxParallelism int, fn func(ctx context.Context, tasks []*Task) error) []error {
-	nestedCtx, cancelFn := context.WithCancel(ctx)
-	defer cancelFn()
-
-	// This goroutine takes nodes from the graph as they are available (their prereq has completed) and
-	// sends them to workCh. It uses completeCh to know that a previously dispatched item is complete.
-	completeCh := make(chan taskStatus, maxParallelism)
-	defer close(completeCh)
+	submitted := make([]bool, len(graph.Nodes))
+	results := make([]*taskStatus, len(graph.Nodes))
 
-	workCh := make(chan runTasks, maxParallelism)
-	go func() {
-		defer close(workCh)
-
-		// visited tracks nodes we have not sent (0), are currently
-		// waiting for completion (1), or have completed (2,3)
-		const (
-			nodeNotVisited int = iota
-			nodeWorking
-			nodeFailed
-			nodeComplete
-		)
-		visited := make([]int, len(graph.Nodes))
-		canVisit := func(node *TaskNode) bool {
-			for _, previous := range node.In {
-				switch visited[previous] {
-				case nodeFailed, nodeWorking, nodeNotVisited:
-					return false
-				}
+	canVisit := func(node *TaskNode) bool {
+		for _, previous := range node.In {
+			if result := results[previous]; result == nil || result.error != nil {
+				return false
 			}
-			return true
 		}
+		return true
+	}
 
-		remaining := len(graph.Nodes)
-		var inflight int
-		for {
-			found := 0
-
-			// walk the graph, filling the work queue
-			for i := 0; i < len(visited); i++ {
-				if visited[i] != nodeNotVisited {
-					continue
-				}
-				if canVisit(graph.Nodes[i]) {
-					select {
-					case workCh <- runTasks{index: i, tasks: graph.Nodes[i].Tasks}:
-						visited[i] = nodeWorking
-						found++
-						inflight++
-					default:
-						break
-					}
-				}
-			}
-
-			// try to empty the done channel
-			for len(completeCh) > 0 {
-				finished := <-completeCh
-				if finished.success {
-					visited[finished.index] = nodeComplete
-				} else {
-					visited[finished.index] = nodeFailed
-				}
-				remaining--
-				inflight--
-				found++
-			}
-
-			if found > 0 {
+	getNextNode := func() int {
+		for i, node := range graph.Nodes {
+			if submitted[i] {
 				continue
 			}
-
-			// no more work to hand out
-			if remaining == 0 {
-				klog.V(4).Infof("Graph is complete")
-				return
+			if canVisit(node) {
+				return i
 			}
+		}
 
-			// we walked the entire graph, there are still nodes remaining, but we're not waiting
-			// for anything
-			if inflight == 0 && found == 0 {
-				klog.V(4).Infof("No more reachable nodes in graph, continue")
-				break
-			}
+		return -1
+	}
 
-			// we did nothing this round, so we have to wait for more
-			finished, ok := <-completeCh
-			if !ok {
-				// we've been aborted
-				klog.V(4).Infof("Stopped graph walker due to cancel")
-				return
-			}
-			if finished.success {
-				visited[finished.index] = nodeComplete
-			} else {
-				visited[finished.index] = nodeFailed
-			}
-			remaining--
-			inflight--
-		}
+	// Tasks go out to the workers via workCh, and results come brack
+	// from the workers via resultCh.
+	workCh := make(chan runTasks, maxParallelism)
+	defer close(workCh)
 
-		// take everything remaining and process in order
-		var unreachable []*Task
-		for i := 0; i < len(visited); i++ {
-			if visited[i] == nodeNotVisited && canVisit(graph.Nodes[i]) {
-				unreachable = append(unreachable, graph.Nodes[i].Tasks...)
-			}
-		}
-		if len(unreachable) > 0 {
-			sort.Slice(unreachable, func(i, j int) bool {
-				a, b := unreachable[i], unreachable[j]
-				return a.Index < b.Index
-			})
-			workCh <- runTasks{index: -1, tasks: unreachable}
-			klog.V(4).Infof("Waiting for last tasks")
-			<-completeCh
-		}
-		klog.V(4).Infof("No more work")
-	}()
+	resultCh := make(chan taskStatus, maxParallelism)
+	defer close(resultCh)
+
+	nestedCtx, cancelFn := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+	defer cancelFn()
 
-	errCh := make(chan error, maxParallelism)
 	wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
 	if maxParallelism < 1 {
 		maxParallelism = 1
 	}
 	for i := 0; i < maxParallelism; i++ {
 		wg.Add(1)
-		go func(job int) {
+		go func(ctx context.Context, job int) {
 			defer utilruntime.HandleCrash()
 			defer wg.Done()
 			for {
 				select {
-				case <-nestedCtx.Done():
-					klog.V(4).Infof("Canceled worker %d", job)
+				case <-ctx.Done():
+					klog.V(4).Infof("Canceled worker %d while waiting for work", job)
 					return
-				case runTask, ok := <-workCh:
-					if !ok {
-						klog.V(4).Infof("No more work for %d", job)
-						return
-					}
+				case runTask := <-workCh:
 					klog.V(4).Infof("Running %d on worker %d", runTask.index, job)
-					err := fn(nestedCtx, runTask.tasks)
-					completeCh <- taskStatus{index: runTask.index, success: err == nil}
-					if err != nil {
-						errCh <- err
-					}
+					err := fn(ctx, runTask.tasks)
+					resultCh <- taskStatus{index: runTask.index, error: err}
 				}
 			}
-		}(i)
+		}(nestedCtx, i)
+	}
+
+	var inflight int
+	nextNode := getNextNode()
+	done := false
+	for !done {
+		switch {
+		case ctx.Err() == nil && nextNode >= 0: // push a task or collect a result
+			select {
+			case workCh <- runTasks{index: nextNode, tasks: graph.Nodes[nextNode].Tasks}:
+				submitted[nextNode] = true
+				inflight++
+			case result := <-resultCh:
+				results[result.index] = &result
+				inflight--
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+			}
+		case inflight > 0: // no work available to push; collect results
+			result := <-resultCh
+			results[result.index] = &result
+			inflight--
+		default: // no work to push and nothing in flight.  We're done
+			done = true
+		}
+		if !done {
+			nextNode = getNextNode()
+		}
 	}
-	go func() {
-		klog.V(4).Infof("Waiting for workers to complete")
-		wg.Wait()
-		klog.V(4).Infof("Workers finished")
-		close(errCh)
-	}()
+
+	cancelFn()
+	wg.Wait()
+	klog.V(4).Infof("Workers finished")
 
 	var errs []error
-	for err := range errCh {
-		errs = append(errs, err)
+	var firstIncompleteNode *TaskNode
+	incompleteCount := 0
+	for i, result := range results {
+		if result == nil {
+			if firstIncompleteNode == nil {
+				firstIncompleteNode = graph.Nodes[i]
+			}
+			incompleteCount++
+		} else if result.error != nil {
+			errs = append(errs, result.error)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(errs) == 0 && firstIncompleteNode != nil {
+		errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("%d incomplete task nodes, beginning with %s", incompleteCount, firstIncompleteNode.Tasks[0]))
+		if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+		}
 	}
+
 	klog.V(4).Infof("Result of work: %v", errs)
 	if len(errs) > 0 {
 		return errs
 	}
-	// if the context was cancelled, we may have unfinished work
-	if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
-		return []error{err}
-	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/payload/task_graph_test.go b/pkg/payload/task_graph_test.go
index e0230b4ec7..c3aee61915 100644
--- a/pkg/payload/task_graph_test.go
+++ b/pkg/payload/task_graph_test.go
@@ -704,7 +704,21 @@ func TestRunGraph(t *testing.T) {
 	tasks := func(names ...string) []*Task {
 		var arr []*Task
 		for _, name := range names {
-			arr = append(arr, &Task{Manifest: &lib.Manifest{OriginalFilename: name}})
+			manifest := &lib.Manifest{OriginalFilename: name}
+			err := manifest.UnmarshalJSON([]byte(fmt.Sprintf(`
+{
+  "apiVersion": "v1",
+  "kind": "ConfigMap",
+  "metadata": {
+    "name": "%s",
+    "namespace": "default"
+  }
+}
+`, name)))
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("load %s: %v", name, err)
+			}
+			arr = append(arr, &Task{Manifest: manifest})
 		}
 		return arr
 	}
@@ -862,7 +876,7 @@ func TestRunGraph(t *testing.T) {
 				return nil
 			},
 			want:     []string{"a"},
-			wantErrs: []string{"context canceled"},
+			wantErrs: []string{`1 incomplete task nodes, beginning with configmap "default/b" (0 of 0)`, "context canceled"},
 		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {