diff --git a/pkg/formatters/event_to_tag/event_to_tag.go b/pkg/formatters/event_to_tag/event_to_tag.go
index aa9558fb..d633c5ff 100644
--- a/pkg/formatters/event_to_tag/event_to_tag.go
+++ b/pkg/formatters/event_to_tag/event_to_tag.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ package event_to_tag
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"log"
 	"os"
@@ -87,13 +88,18 @@ func (t *toTag) Apply(es ...*formatters.EventMsg) []*formatters.EventMsg {
 		if e == nil {
 			continue
 		}
+		if e.Tags == nil {
+			e.Tags = make(map[string]string)
+		}
 		for k, v := range e.Values {
 			for _, re := range t.valueNames {
 				if re.MatchString(k) {
-					if e.Tags == nil {
-						e.Tags = make(map[string]string)
+					switch v := v.(type) {
+					case string:
+						e.Tags[k] = v
+					default:
+						e.Tags[k] = fmt.Sprint(v)
 					}
-					e.Tags[k] = v.(string)
 					if !t.Keep {
 						delete(e.Values, k)
 					}
@@ -102,9 +108,38 @@ func (t *toTag) Apply(es ...*formatters.EventMsg) []*formatters.EventMsg {
 			for _, re := range t.values {
 				if vs, ok := v.(string); ok {
 					if re.MatchString(vs) {
-						if e.Tags == nil {
-							e.Tags = make(map[string]string)
+						e.Tags[k] = vs
+						if !t.Keep {
+							delete(e.Values, k)
 						}
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return es
+}
+
+func (t *toTag) Apply2(es ...*formatters.EventMsg) []*formatters.EventMsg {
+	for _, e := range es {
+		if e == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		if e.Tags == nil {
+			e.Tags = make(map[string]string)
+		}
+		for k, v := range e.Values {
+			for _, re := range t.valueNames {
+				if re.MatchString(k) {
+					e.Tags[k] = fmt.Sprint(v)  // always cast v results on extra allocations: Apply > Apply2
+					if !t.Keep {
+						delete(e.Values, k)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			for _, re := range t.values {
+				if vs, ok := v.(string); ok {
+					if re.MatchString(vs) {
 						e.Tags[k] = vs
 						if !t.Keep {
 							delete(e.Values, k)
diff --git a/pkg/formatters/event_to_tag/event_to_tag_test.go b/pkg/formatters/event_to_tag/event_to_tag_test.go
index 61057e32..4b7458fd 100644
--- a/pkg/formatters/event_to_tag/event_to_tag_test.go
+++ b/pkg/formatters/event_to_tag/event_to_tag_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 package event_to_tag
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
+	"regexp"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/openconfig/gnmic/pkg/formatters"
@@ -42,6 +44,7 @@ var testset = map[string]struct {
 				},
 				output: []*formatters.EventMsg{
 					{
+						Tags:   map[string]string{},
 						Values: map[string]interface{}{}},
 				},
 			},
@@ -76,6 +79,7 @@ var testset = map[string]struct {
 				},
 				output: []*formatters.EventMsg{
 					{
+						Tags:   map[string]string{},
 						Values: map[string]interface{}{}},
 				},
 			},
@@ -109,6 +113,7 @@ var testset = map[string]struct {
 				},
 				output: []*formatters.EventMsg{
 					{
+						Tags:   map[string]string{},
 						Values: map[string]interface{}{}},
 				},
 			},
@@ -148,6 +153,7 @@ var testset = map[string]struct {
 				},
 				output: []*formatters.EventMsg{
 					{
+						Tags:   map[string]string{},
 						Values: map[string]interface{}{}},
 				},
 			},
@@ -171,6 +177,51 @@ var testset = map[string]struct {
 			},
 		},
 	},
+	"match_integer_value": {
+		processorType: processorType,
+		processor: map[string]interface{}{
+			"value-names": []string{".*peer-as$"},
+			"keep":        true,
+		},
+		tests: []item{
+			{
+				input:  nil,
+				output: nil,
+			},
+			{
+				input: []*formatters.EventMsg{
+					{
+						Values: map[string]interface{}{}},
+				},
+				output: []*formatters.EventMsg{
+					{
+						Tags:   map[string]string{},
+						Values: map[string]interface{}{}},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				input: []*formatters.EventMsg{
+					{
+						Values: map[string]interface{}{
+							"name":    "dummy",
+							"peer-as": 65000,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				output: []*formatters.EventMsg{
+					{
+						Tags: map[string]string{
+							"peer-as": "65000",
+						},
+						Values: map[string]interface{}{
+							"name":    "dummy",
+							"peer-as": 65000,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	},
 }
 
 func TestEventToTag(t *testing.T) {
@@ -185,7 +236,7 @@ func TestEventToTag(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 			t.Logf("processor: %+v", p)
 			for i, item := range ts.tests {
-				t.Run("uint_convert", func(t *testing.T) {
+				t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
 					t.Logf("running test item %d", i)
 					outs := p.Apply(item.input...)
 					for j := range outs {
@@ -203,3 +254,63 @@ func TestEventToTag(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// Helper function to generate test messages
+func generateTestMessages(count int) []*formatters.EventMsg {
+	messages := make([]*formatters.EventMsg, count)
+	for i := 0; i < count; i++ {
+		messages[i] = &formatters.EventMsg{
+			Name:      fmt.Sprintf("event%d", i),
+			Timestamp: int64(i),
+			Values: map[string]interface{}{
+				fmt.Sprintf("key%d", i):  fmt.Sprintf("value%d", i),
+				"staticKey":              "staticValue",
+				fmt.Sprintf("tagw%d", i): fmt.Sprintf("value%d", i),
+			},
+		}
+	}
+	return messages
+}
+
+// Benchmark test for the Apply function
+func BenchmarkApply(b *testing.B) {
+	// Create a toTag instance with sample regex patterns
+	toTagInstance := &toTag{
+		valueNames: []*regexp.Regexp{
+			regexp.MustCompile(`^key\d+$`), // Matches keys like "key1", "key2", etc.
+		},
+		values: []*regexp.Regexp{
+			regexp.MustCompile(`^value\d+$`), // Matches values like "value1", "value2", etc.
+		},
+		Keep: false,
+	}
+
+	// Generate a sample EventMsg array
+	eventMessages := generateTestMessages(10000)
+	// Benchmark the Apply function
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		toTagInstance.Apply(eventMessages...)
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkApply2(b *testing.B) {
+	// Create a toTag instance with sample regex patterns
+	toTagInstance := &toTag{
+		valueNames: []*regexp.Regexp{
+			regexp.MustCompile(`^key\d+$`), // Matches keys like "key1", "key2", etc.
+		},
+		values: []*regexp.Regexp{
+			regexp.MustCompile(`^value\d+$`), // Matches values like "value1", "value2", etc.
+		},
+		Keep: false,
+	}
+
+	// Generate a sample EventMsg array
+	eventMessages := generateTestMessages(10000)
+	// Benchmark the Apply function
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		toTagInstance.Apply2(eventMessages...)
+	}
+}