1. A method of establishing a branch target instruction cache (BTIC) entry for a subroutine return instruction in an execution pipeline to reduce an occurrence of a pipeline bubble, comprising: detecting a subroutine call instruction in an execution pipeline; and in response to detecting the subroutine call instruction, establishing a BTIC entry for a subroutine return instruction by: writing at least one sequential instruction fetched sequential to the subroutine call instruction as a branch target instruction in the BTIC entry for the subroutine return instruction; calculating a next instruction fetch address; and writing the next instruction fetch address into a next instruction fetch address field in the BTIC entry for the subroutine return instruction.