diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/SparseTensor/IR/SparseTensor.h b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/SparseTensor/IR/SparseTensor.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/SparseTensor/IR/SparseTensor.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/SparseTensor/IR/SparseTensor.h
@@ -101,6 +101,9 @@
 /// Returns null-attribute for any type without an encoding.
 SparseTensorEncodingAttr getSparseTensorEncoding(Type type);
 
+/// Tests if types are the same, but ignoring encoding on ranked tensors.
+bool isSameTypeWithoutEncoding(Type tp1, Type tp2);
+
 /// Returns true iff the given sparse tensor encoding attribute has a trailing
 /// COO region starting at the given level.
 bool isCOOType(SparseTensorEncodingAttr enc, Level startLvl, bool isUnique);
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/SparseTensor/IR/SparseTensorDialect.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/SparseTensor/IR/SparseTensorDialect.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/SparseTensor/IR/SparseTensorDialect.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/SparseTensor/IR/SparseTensorDialect.cpp
@@ -449,8 +449,16 @@
   return nullptr;
 }
 
-/// Returns true iff the given sparse tensor encoding attribute has a trailing
-/// COO region starting at the given level.
+bool mlir::sparse_tensor::isSameTypeWithoutEncoding(Type tp1, Type tp2) {
+  if (auto rtp1 = tp1.dyn_cast<RankedTensorType>()) {
+    if (auto rtp2 = tp2.dyn_cast<RankedTensorType>())
+      return rtp1.getShape() == rtp2.getShape() &&
+             rtp1.getElementType() == rtp2.getElementType();
+    return false;
+  }
+  return tp1 == tp2; // default test
+}
+
 bool mlir::sparse_tensor::isCOOType(SparseTensorEncodingAttr enc,
                                     Level startLvl, bool isUnique) {
   if (!enc ||
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/SparseTensor/Transforms/SparseTensorRewriting.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/SparseTensor/Transforms/SparseTensorRewriting.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/SparseTensor/Transforms/SparseTensorRewriting.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/SparseTensor/Transforms/SparseTensorRewriting.cpp
@@ -346,6 +346,45 @@
   }
 };
 
+// Fuse a tensor cast into producing operation. Note that a tensor.cast
+// should really not be used to convert between sparse encodings. Since
+// the pattern currently appears as a result of some prior rewriting
+// we make an attempt to repair very obvious cases.
+// TODO: audit the pure tensor dialect rewriting rules
+struct FuseTensorCast : public OpRewritePattern<tensor::CastOp> {
+public:
+  using OpRewritePattern<tensor::CastOp>::OpRewritePattern;
+
+  LogicalResult matchAndRewrite(tensor::CastOp op,
+                                PatternRewriter &rewriter) const override {
+    Type srcType = op.getSource().getType();
+    Type dstType = op.getDest().getType();
+    // A nop cast simply folds away.
+    if (srcType == dstType) {
+      rewriter.replaceOp(op, op->getResults());
+      return success();
+    }
+    // See if a sparsity changing cast can be fused into producer.
+    if (isSameTypeWithoutEncoding(srcType, dstType)) {
+      if (Operation *def = op.getSource().getDefiningOp()) {
+        if (def->hasOneUse() && isa<tensor::ExtractSliceOp>(def)) {
+          def->getResult(0).setType(op->getResultTypes()[0]);
+          rewriter.replaceOp(op, def->getResult(0));
+          return success();
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    // Repair tensor casts with at least one sparse operand into the
+    // the properly supported sparse_tensor.convert.
+    if (getSparseTensorEncoding(srcType) || getSparseTensorEncoding(dstType)) {
+      rewriter.replaceOpWithNewOp<ConvertOp>(op, dstType, op.getSource());
+      return success();
+    }
+    // Fail otherwise.
+    return failure();
+  }
+};
+
 /// Sparse rewriting rule for sparse-to-sparse reshape operator.
 template <typename ReshapeOp>
 struct Sparse2SparseReshapeRewriter : public OpRewritePattern<ReshapeOp> {
@@ -1125,7 +1164,7 @@
 //===---------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
 void mlir::populatePreSparsificationRewriting(RewritePatternSet &patterns) {
-  patterns.add<FoldInvariantYield, FuseSparseMultiplyOverAdd>(
+  patterns.add<FoldInvariantYield, FuseSparseMultiplyOverAdd, FuseTensorCast>(
       patterns.getContext());
 }
 
diff --git a/mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/rewriting.mlir b/mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/post_rewriting.mlir
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
rename from mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/rewriting.mlir
rename to mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/post_rewriting.mlir
diff --git a/mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/pre_rewriting.mlir b/mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/pre_rewriting.mlir
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/pre_rewriting.mlir
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+// RUN: mlir-opt %s -pre-sparsification-rewrite | FileCheck %s
+
+#SparseVector = #sparse_tensor.encoding<{
+  dimLevelType = ["compressed"]
+}>
+
+#SortedCOO = #sparse_tensor.encoding<{
+  dimLevelType = [ "compressed-nu", "singleton" ]
+}>
+
+#Slice = #sparse_tensor.encoding<{
+  dimLevelType = [ "compressed-nu", "singleton" ],
+  slice = [ (?, 1, 1), (?, 3, 1) ]
+}>
+
+// CHECK-LABEL: func @sparse_nop_cast(
+//  CHECK-SAME: %[[A:.*]]: tensor<?xf32, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>>)
+//       CHECK: return %[[A]] : tensor<?xf32, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>>
+func.func @sparse_nop_cast(%a : tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector>) -> tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector> {
+  %0 = tensor.cast %a : tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector> to tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector>
+  %1 = tensor.cast %0 : tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector> to tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector>
+  %2 = tensor.cast %1 : tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector> to tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector>
+  return %2 : tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector>
+}
+
+// CHECK-LABEL: func @sparse_repair_cast(
+//  CHECK-SAME: %[[A:.*]]: tensor<?xf32>)
+//       CHECK: %[[C:.*]] = sparse_tensor.convert %[[A]] : tensor<?xf32> to tensor<?xf32, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>
+//       CHECK: return %[[C]] : tensor<?xf32, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>>
+func.func @sparse_repair_cast(%a : tensor<?xf32>) -> tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector> {
+  %0 = tensor.cast %a : tensor<?xf32> to tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector>
+  return %0 : tensor<?xf32, #SparseVector>
+}
+
+// CHECK-LABEL: func @sparse_fuse_slice(
+//  CHECK-SAME: %[[A:.*]]: tensor<2x3xi64, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>>)
+//       CHECK: %[[E:.*]] = tensor.extract_slice %[[A]][1, 0] [1, 3] [1, 1] : tensor<2x3xi64, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>> to tensor<1x3xi64, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>>
+//       CHECK: %[[C:.*]] = sparse_tensor.convert %[[E]] : tensor<1x3xi64, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>> to tensor<1x3xi64, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>>
+//       CHECK: return %[[C]] : tensor<1x3xi64, #sparse_tensor.encoding<{{{.*}}}>>
+func.func @sparse_fuse_slice(%a : tensor<2x3xi64, #SortedCOO>) -> tensor<1x3xi64, #SortedCOO> {
+  %extracted_slice = tensor.extract_slice %a[1, 0] [1, 3] [1, 1] : tensor<2x3xi64, #SortedCOO> to tensor<1x3xi64>
+  %cast = tensor.cast %extracted_slice : tensor<1x3xi64> to tensor<1x3xi64, #Slice>
+  %0 = sparse_tensor.convert %cast : tensor<1x3xi64, #Slice> to tensor<1x3xi64, #SortedCOO>
+  return %0 : tensor<1x3xi64, #SortedCOO>
+}