diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/clean.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/clean.rs
index 6dc03236053c7..fec4a79de3c75 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/clean.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/clean.rs
@@ -58,8 +58,7 @@ macro_rules! clean_crate_tree {
             type Output = ();
 
             fn should_run(run: ShouldRun<'_>) -> ShouldRun<'_> {
-                let crates = run.builder.in_tree_crates($root_crate, None);
-                run.crates(crates)
+                run.crate_or_deps($root_crate)
             }
 
             fn make_run(run: RunConfig<'_>) {
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/compile.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/compile.rs
index 4f96df6452d78..a1effa38387ca 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/compile.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/core/build_steps/compile.rs
@@ -1018,16 +1018,11 @@ impl Step for Rustc {
     const IS_HOST: bool = true;
 
     fn should_run(run: ShouldRun<'_>) -> ShouldRun<'_> {
-        let mut crates = run.builder.in_tree_crates("rustc-main", None);
-        for (i, krate) in crates.iter().enumerate() {
+        run.crate_or_deps_filtered("rustc-main", |krate| {
             // We can't allow `build rustc` as an alias for this Step, because that's reserved by `Assemble`.
             // Ideally Assemble would use `build compiler` instead, but that seems too confusing to be worth the breaking change.
-            if krate.name == "rustc-main" {
-                crates.swap_remove(i);
-                break;
-            }
-        }
-        run.crates(crates)
+            krate.name != "rustc-main"
+        })
     }
 
     fn is_default_step(_builder: &Builder<'_>) -> bool {
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/core/builder/mod.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/core/builder/mod.rs
index 0d17f0f792a01..b21a2fe77d94f 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/core/builder/mod.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/core/builder/mod.rs
@@ -524,22 +524,30 @@ impl<'a> ShouldRun<'a> {
         ShouldRun { builder, kind, paths: BTreeSet::new(), default_to_suites_only: false }
     }
 
-    /// Indicates it should run if the command-line selects the given crate or
-    /// any of its (local) dependencies.
+    /// The corresponding step should run if the bootstrap command-line selects
+    /// the given crate or any of its (local) dependencies.
     ///
-    /// `make_run` will be called a single time with all matching command-line paths.
-    pub fn crate_or_deps(self, name: &str) -> Self {
-        let crates = self.builder.in_tree_crates(name, None);
-        self.crates(crates)
+    /// Delegates to [`Self::crate_or_deps_filtered`] with a filter that accepts all crates.
+    pub(crate) fn crate_or_deps(self, root_crate_name: &str) -> Self {
+        self.crate_or_deps_filtered(root_crate_name, |_: &Crate| true)
     }
 
-    /// Indicates it should run if the command-line selects any of the given crates.
+    /// The corresponding step should run if the bootstrap command-line selects
+    /// the given crate or any of its (local) dependencies, not counting any
+    /// crates rejected by the given filter function.
     ///
     /// `make_run` will be called a single time with all matching command-line paths.
-    ///
-    /// Prefer [`ShouldRun::crate_or_deps`] to this function where possible.
-    pub(crate) fn crates(mut self, crates: Vec<&Crate>) -> Self {
+    pub(crate) fn crate_or_deps_filtered(
+        mut self,
+        root_crate_name: &str,
+        crate_filter_fn: impl Fn(&Crate) -> bool,
+    ) -> Self {
+        let crates = self.builder.in_tree_crates(root_crate_name, None);
         for krate in crates {
+            if !crate_filter_fn(krate) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
             let path = krate.local_path(self.builder);
             self.paths.insert(PathSet::one(path, self.kind));
         }
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs b/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs
index f7ffc682e2bd7..f08346789e7e8 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/src/lib.rs
@@ -1735,7 +1735,9 @@ impl Build {
                 }
             }
         }
-        ret.sort_unstable_by_key(|krate| krate.name.clone()); // reproducible order needed for tests
+
+        // Sort the crates so that bootstrap unit tests can assume a deterministic order.
+        ret.sort_unstable_by(|a, b| Ord::cmp(&a.name, &b.name));
         ret
     }