diff --git a/mlir/lib/Transforms/Utils/GreedyPatternRewriteDriver.cpp b/mlir/lib/Transforms/Utils/GreedyPatternRewriteDriver.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Transforms/Utils/GreedyPatternRewriteDriver.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Transforms/Utils/GreedyPatternRewriteDriver.cpp
@@ -42,10 +42,8 @@
   /// Simplify the operations within the given regions.
   bool simplify(MutableArrayRef<Region> regions);
 
-  /// Add the given operation to the worklist. Parent ops may or may not be
-  /// added to the worklist, depending on the type of rewrite driver. By
-  /// default, parent ops are added.
-  virtual void addToWorklist(Operation *op);
+  /// Add the given operation and its ancestors to the worklist.
+  void addToWorklist(Operation *op);
 
   /// Pop the next operation from the worklist.
   Operation *popFromWorklist();
@@ -59,7 +57,7 @@
 
 protected:
   /// Add the given operation to the worklist.
-  void addSingleOpToWorklist(Operation *op);
+  virtual void addSingleOpToWorklist(Operation *op);
 
   // Implement the hook for inserting operations, and make sure that newly
   // inserted ops are added to the worklist for processing.
@@ -105,7 +103,7 @@
 private:
   /// Only ops within this scope are simplified. This is set at the beginning
   /// of `simplify()` to the current scope the rewriter operates on.
-  DenseSet<Region *> scope;
+  std::optional<DenseSet<Region *>> scope = {};
 
 #ifndef NDEBUG
   /// A logger used to emit information during the application process.
@@ -125,8 +123,9 @@
 }
 
 bool GreedyPatternRewriteDriver::simplify(MutableArrayRef<Region> regions) {
+  DenseSet<Region *> &s = scope.emplace();
   for (Region &r : regions)
-    scope.insert(&r);
+    s.insert(&r);
 
 #ifndef NDEBUG
   const char *logLineComment =
@@ -316,13 +315,13 @@
 
 void GreedyPatternRewriteDriver::addToWorklist(Operation *op) {
   // Gather potential ancestors while looking for a "scope" parent region.
+  bool inScope = !scope.has_value();
   SmallVector<Operation *, 8> ancestors;
   ancestors.push_back(op);
   while (Region *region = op->getParentRegion()) {
-    if (scope.contains(region)) {
+    if (scope.has_value() && scope->contains(region)) {
       // All gathered ops are in fact ancestors.
-      for (Operation *op : ancestors)
-        addSingleOpToWorklist(op);
+      inScope = true;
       break;
     }
     op = region->getParentOp();
@@ -330,6 +329,11 @@
       break;
     ancestors.push_back(op);
   }
+
+  // Enqueue ops if "scope" parent region was reached or no scope was specified.
+  if (inScope)
+    for (Operation *op : ancestors)
+      addSingleOpToWorklist(op);
 }
 
 void GreedyPatternRewriteDriver::addSingleOpToWorklist(Operation *op) {
@@ -590,7 +594,8 @@
                                 bool *changed = nullptr,
                                 DenseSet<Operation *> *erased = nullptr);
 
-  void addToWorklist(Operation *op) override {
+protected:
+  void addSingleOpToWorklist(Operation *op) override {
     if (strictMode == GreedyRewriteStrictness::AnyOp ||
         strictModeFilteredOps.contains(op))
       GreedyPatternRewriteDriver::addSingleOpToWorklist(op);
@@ -641,7 +646,7 @@
   worklist.clear();
   worklistMap.clear();
   for (Operation *op : ops)
-    addToWorklist(op);
+    addSingleOpToWorklist(op);
 
   // These are scratch vectors used in the folding loop below.
   SmallVector<Value, 8> originalOperands, resultValues;