Techniques are described for dynamically controlling the execution of operations within a multi-operation instruction, such as a very long instruction word (VLIW). A programmable processor fetches and executes a first instruction having an operation mask. Based on the operation mask, the processor selectively executes one or more operations within a second instruction. Individual operations within a multi-operation instruction can be selectively enabled and disabled, which is advantageous in many situations, including event handling and code debugging.