A mask pattern and method are described for the recovery of alignment marks on an integrated circuit wafer without the use of additional masks. The mask pattern and method provide means to recover the alignment marks after forming a metal layer on a planarized inter-level dielectric layer. The pattern which conventional methods have placed on a separate mask is formed in the end regions of a mask used for forming a pattern on the active region of the wafer. In order to fit the pattern in the end regions of the mask the pattern is divided into two parts. When the pattern is used to expose a layer of photoresist two exposure steps are used.