According to some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless device for polar encoding payload bits comprises: identifying payload bits of a data channel that have known values; placing a first subset of the known payload bits at input positions of a polar encoder that correspond to the earliest decoding bit positions of the polar encoder; placing a second subset of the known payload bits at input positions of the polar encoder that correspond to the least reliable decoding bit positions of the polar encoder after placement of the first subset of the known payload bits; and transmitting the polar encoded payload bits to a wireless receiver. The first subset of the known payload bits are placed in earliest decoding bit positions to improve early termination gain. The second subset of the known payload bits are placed in least reliable decoding bit positions to enhance error performance.