A system and method for efficient predicting and processing of memory access dependencies. A computing system includes control logic that marks a detected load instruction as a first type responsive to predicting the load instruction has high locality and is a candidate for store-to-load (STL) data forwarding. The control logic marks the detected load instruction as a second type responsive to predicting the load instruction has low locality and is not a candidate for STL data forwarding. The control logic processes a load instruction marked as the first type as if the load instruction is dependent on an older store operation. The control logic processes a load instruction marked as the second type as if the load instruction is independent on any older store operation.