diff --git a/source/common/config/well_known_names.cc b/source/common/config/well_known_names.cc
index fc6ee0f41edbb..40d3ed42e4c31 100644
--- a/source/common/config/well_known_names.cc
+++ b/source/common/config/well_known_names.cc
@@ -24,55 +24,60 @@ TagNameValues::TagNameValues() {
   // - Typical * notation will be used to denote an arbitrary set of characters.
 
   // *_rq(_<response_code>)
-  addRegex(RESPONSE_CODE, "_rq(_(\\d{3}))$");
+  addRegex(RESPONSE_CODE, "_rq(_(\\d{3}))$", "_rq_");
 
   // *_rq_(<response_code_class>)xx
-  addRegex(RESPONSE_CODE_CLASS, "_rq_(\\d)xx$");
+  addRegex(RESPONSE_CODE_CLASS, "_rq_(\\d)xx$", "_rq_");
 
   // http.[<stat_prefix>.]dynamodb.table.[<table_name>.]capacity.[<operation_name>.](__partition_id=<last_seven_characters_from_partition_id>)
-  addRegex(DYNAMO_PARTITION_ID, "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.dynamodb\\.table(?=\\.).*?\\."
-                                "capacity(?=\\.).*?(\\.__partition_id=(\\w{7}))"
-                                "$");
+  addRegex(DYNAMO_PARTITION_ID,
+           "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.dynamodb\\.table(?=\\.).*?\\."
+           "capacity(?=\\.).*?(\\.__partition_id=(\\w{7}))$",
+           ".dynamodb.table.");
 
   // http.[<stat_prefix>.]dynamodb.operation.(<operation_name>.)<base_stat> or
   // http.[<stat_prefix>.]dynamodb.table.[<table_name>.]capacity.(<operation_name>.)[<partition_id>]
-  addRegex(DYNAMO_OPERATION, "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.dynamodb.(?:operation|table(?="
-                             "\\.).*?\\.capacity)(\\.(.*?))(?:\\.|$)");
+  addRegex(DYNAMO_OPERATION,
+           "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.dynamodb.(?:operation|table(?="
+           "\\.).*?\\.capacity)(\\.(.*?))(?:\\.|$)",
+           ".dynamodb.");
 
   // mongo.[<stat_prefix>.]collection.[<collection>.]callsite.(<callsite>.)query.<base_stat>
   addRegex(MONGO_CALLSITE,
-           "^mongo(?=\\.).*?\\.collection(?=\\.).*?\\.callsite\\.((.*?)\\.).*?query.\\w+?$");
+           "^mongo(?=\\.).*?\\.collection(?=\\.).*?\\.callsite\\.((.*?)\\.).*?query.\\w+?$",
+           ".collection.");
 
   // http.[<stat_prefix>.]dynamodb.table.(<table_name>.) or
   // http.[<stat_prefix>.]dynamodb.error.(<table_name>.)*
-  addRegex(DYNAMO_TABLE, "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.dynamodb.(?:table|error)\\.((.*?)\\.)");
+  addRegex(DYNAMO_TABLE, "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.dynamodb.(?:table|error)\\.((.*?)\\.)", ".dynamodb.");
 
   // mongo.[<stat_prefix>.]collection.(<collection>.)query.<base_stat>
-  addRegex(MONGO_COLLECTION, "^mongo(?=\\.).*?\\.collection\\.((.*?)\\.).*?query.\\w+?$");
+  addRegex(MONGO_COLLECTION, "^mongo(?=\\.).*?\\.collection\\.((.*?)\\.).*?query.\\w+?$",
+           ".collection.");
 
   // mongo.[<stat_prefix>.]cmd.(<cmd>.)<base_stat>
-  addRegex(MONGO_CMD, "^mongo(?=\\.).*?\\.cmd\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$");
+  addRegex(MONGO_CMD, "^mongo(?=\\.).*?\\.cmd\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$", ".cmd.");
 
   // cluster.[<route_target_cluster>.]grpc.[<grpc_service>.](<grpc_method>.)<base_stat>
-  addRegex(GRPC_BRIDGE_METHOD, "^cluster(?=\\.).*?\\.grpc(?=\\.).*\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$");
+  addRegex(GRPC_BRIDGE_METHOD, "^cluster(?=\\.).*?\\.grpc(?=\\.).*\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$", ".grpc.");
 
   // http.[<stat_prefix>.]user_agent.(<user_agent>.)<base_stat>
-  addRegex(HTTP_USER_AGENT, "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.user_agent\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$");
+  addRegex(HTTP_USER_AGENT, "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.user_agent\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$", ".user_agent.");
 
   // vhost.[<virtual host name>.]vcluster.(<virtual_cluster_name>.)<base_stat>
-  addRegex(VIRTUAL_CLUSTER, "^vhost(?=\\.).*?\\.vcluster\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$");
+  addRegex(VIRTUAL_CLUSTER, "^vhost(?=\\.).*?\\.vcluster\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$", ".vcluster.");
 
   // http.[<stat_prefix>.]fault.(<downstream_cluster>.)<base_stat>
-  addRegex(FAULT_DOWNSTREAM_CLUSTER, "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.fault\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$");
+  addRegex(FAULT_DOWNSTREAM_CLUSTER, "^http(?=\\.).*?\\.fault\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$", ".fault.");
 
   // listener.[<address>.]ssl.cipher.(<cipher>)
   addRegex(SSL_CIPHER, "^listener(?=\\.).*?\\.ssl\\.cipher(\\.(.*?))$");
 
   // cluster.[<cluster_name>.]ssl.ciphers.(<cipher>)
-  addRegex(SSL_CIPHER_SUITE, "^cluster(?=\\.).*?\\.ssl\\.ciphers(\\.(.*?))$");
+  addRegex(SSL_CIPHER_SUITE, "^cluster(?=\\.).*?\\.ssl\\.ciphers(\\.(.*?))$", ".ssl.ciphers.");
 
   // cluster.[<route_target_cluster>.]grpc.(<grpc_service>.)*
-  addRegex(GRPC_BRIDGE_SERVICE, "^cluster(?=\\.).*?\\.grpc\\.((.*?)\\.)");
+  addRegex(GRPC_BRIDGE_SERVICE, "^cluster(?=\\.).*?\\.grpc\\.((.*?)\\.)", ".grpc.");
 
   // tcp.(<stat_prefix>.)<base_stat>
   addRegex(TCP_PREFIX, "^tcp\\.((.*?)\\.)\\w+?$");
@@ -86,8 +91,11 @@ TagNameValues::TagNameValues() {
   // cluster.(<cluster_name>.)*
   addRegex(CLUSTER_NAME, "^cluster\\.((.*?)\\.)");
 
-  // http.(<stat_prefix>.)* or listener.[<address>.]http.(<stat_prefix>.)*
-  addRegex(HTTP_CONN_MANAGER_PREFIX, "^(?:|listener(?=\\.).*?\\.)http\\.((.*?)\\.)");
+  // listener.[<address>.]http.(<stat_prefix>.)*
+  addRegex(HTTP_CONN_MANAGER_PREFIX, "^listener(?=\\.).*?\\.http\\.((.*?)\\.)", ".http.");
+
+  // http.(<stat_prefix>.)*
+  addRegex(HTTP_CONN_MANAGER_PREFIX, "^http\\.((.*?)\\.)");
 
   // listener.(<address>.)*
   addRegex(LISTENER_ADDRESS,
@@ -100,8 +108,9 @@ TagNameValues::TagNameValues() {
   addRegex(MONGO_PREFIX, "^mongo\\.((.*?)\\.)");
 }
 
-void TagNameValues::addRegex(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex) {
-  descriptor_vec_.emplace_back(Descriptor(name, regex));
+void TagNameValues::addRegex(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex,
+                             const std::string& substr) {
+  descriptor_vec_.emplace_back(Descriptor(name, regex, substr));
 }
 
 } // namespace Config
diff --git a/source/common/config/well_known_names.h b/source/common/config/well_known_names.h
index 99dd2ee1c2d27..1ef78c0fb6caf 100644
--- a/source/common/config/well_known_names.h
+++ b/source/common/config/well_known_names.h
@@ -230,9 +230,11 @@ class TagNameValues {
    * tags, such as "_rq_(\\d)xx$", will probably stay as regexes.
    */
   struct Descriptor {
-    Descriptor(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex) : name_(name), regex_(regex) {}
+    Descriptor(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex, const std::string& substr = "")
+        : name_(name), regex_(regex), substr_(substr) {}
     const std::string name_;
     const std::string regex_;
+    const std::string substr_;
   };
 
   // Cluster name tag
@@ -289,7 +291,7 @@ class TagNameValues {
   const std::vector<Descriptor>& descriptorVec() const { return descriptor_vec_; }
 
 private:
-  void addRegex(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex);
+  void addRegex(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex, const std::string& substr = "");
 
   // Collection of tag descriptors.
   std::vector<Descriptor> descriptor_vec_;
diff --git a/source/common/stats/stats_impl.cc b/source/common/stats/stats_impl.cc
index 5bc04df0025f8..03b88d6b625d1 100644
--- a/source/common/stats/stats_impl.cc
+++ b/source/common/stats/stats_impl.cc
@@ -69,8 +69,9 @@ std::string Utility::sanitizeStatsName(const std::string& name) {
   return stats_name;
 }
 
-TagExtractorImpl::TagExtractorImpl(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex)
-    : name_(name), prefix_(std::string(extractRegexPrefix(regex))),
+TagExtractorImpl::TagExtractorImpl(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex,
+                                   const std::string& substr)
+    : name_(name), prefix_(std::string(extractRegexPrefix(regex))), substr_(substr),
       regex_(RegexUtil::parseRegex(regex)) {}
 
 std::string TagExtractorImpl::extractRegexPrefix(absl::string_view regex) {
@@ -93,7 +94,8 @@ std::string TagExtractorImpl::extractRegexPrefix(absl::string_view regex) {
 }
 
 TagExtractorPtr TagExtractorImpl::createTagExtractor(const std::string& name,
-                                                     const std::string& regex) {
+                                                     const std::string& regex,
+                                                     const std::string& substr) {
 
   if (name.empty()) {
     throw EnvoyException("tag_name cannot be empty");
@@ -103,13 +105,22 @@ TagExtractorPtr TagExtractorImpl::createTagExtractor(const std::string& name,
     throw EnvoyException(fmt::format(
         "No regex specified for tag specifier and no default regex for name: '{}'", name));
   }
-  return TagExtractorPtr{new TagExtractorImpl(name, regex)};
+  return TagExtractorPtr{new TagExtractorImpl(name, regex, substr)};
+}
+
+bool TagExtractorImpl::substrMismatch(const std::string& stat_name) const {
+  return !substr_.empty() && stat_name.find(substr_) == std::string::npos;
 }
 
 bool TagExtractorImpl::extractTag(const std::string& stat_name, std::vector<Tag>& tags,
                                   IntervalSet<size_t>& remove_characters) const {
-
   PERF_OPERATION(perf);
+
+  if (substrMismatch(stat_name)) {
+    PERF_RECORD(perf, "re-skip-substr", name_);
+    return false;
+  }
+
   std::smatch match;
   // The regex must match and contain one or more subexpressions (all after the first are ignored).
   if (std::regex_search(stat_name, match, regex_) && match.size() > 1) {
@@ -181,15 +192,11 @@ int TagProducerImpl::addExtractorsMatching(absl::string_view name) {
   int num_found = 0;
   for (const auto& desc : Config::TagNames::get().descriptorVec()) {
     if (desc.name_ == name) {
-      addExtractor(Stats::TagExtractorImpl::createTagExtractor(desc.name_, desc.regex_));
+      addExtractor(
+          Stats::TagExtractorImpl::createTagExtractor(desc.name_, desc.regex_, desc.substr_));
       ++num_found;
     }
   }
-  // TODO(jmarantz): Changing the default tag regexes so that more than one regex can
-  // yield the same tag, on the theory that this will reduce regex backtracking. At the
-  // moment, this doesn't happen, so this flow isn't well tested. When we start exploiting
-  // this, and it's tested, we can simply remove this assert.
-  ASSERT(num_found <= 1);
   return num_found;
 }
 
@@ -241,7 +248,8 @@ TagProducerImpl::addDefaultExtractors(const envoy::config::metrics::v2::StatsCon
   if (!config.has_use_all_default_tags() || config.use_all_default_tags().value()) {
     for (const auto& desc : Config::TagNames::get().descriptorVec()) {
       names.emplace(desc.name_);
-      addExtractor(Stats::TagExtractorImpl::createTagExtractor(desc.name_, desc.regex_));
+      addExtractor(
+          Stats::TagExtractorImpl::createTagExtractor(desc.name_, desc.regex_, desc.substr_));
     }
   }
   return names;
diff --git a/source/common/stats/stats_impl.h b/source/common/stats/stats_impl.h
index 3b825473d9d8e..85629d3449ea8 100644
--- a/source/common/stats/stats_impl.h
+++ b/source/common/stats/stats_impl.h
@@ -32,16 +32,28 @@ class TagExtractorImpl : public TagExtractor {
    * Creates a tag extractor from the regex provided. name and regex must be non-empty.
    * @param name name for tag extractor.
    * @param regex regex expression.
+   * @param substr a substring that -- if provided -- must be present in a stat name
+   *               in order to match the regex. This is an optional performance tweak
+   *               to avoid large numbers of failed regex lookups.
    * @return TagExtractorPtr newly constructed TagExtractor.
    */
-  static TagExtractorPtr createTagExtractor(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex);
+  static TagExtractorPtr createTagExtractor(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex,
+                                            const std::string& substr = "");
 
-  TagExtractorImpl(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex);
+  TagExtractorImpl(const std::string& name, const std::string& regex,
+                   const std::string& substr = "");
   std::string name() const override { return name_; }
   bool extractTag(const std::string& tag_extracted_name, std::vector<Tag>& tags,
                   IntervalSet<size_t>& remove_characters) const override;
   absl::string_view prefixToken() const override { return prefix_; }
 
+  /**
+   * @param stat_name The stat name
+   * @return bool indicates whether tag extraction should be skipped for this stat_name due
+   * to a substring mismatch.
+   */
+  bool substrMismatch(const std::string& stat_name) const;
+
 private:
   /**
    * Examines a regex string, looking for the pattern: ^alphanumerics_with_underscores\.
@@ -53,6 +65,7 @@ class TagExtractorImpl : public TagExtractor {
 
   const std::string name_;
   const std::string prefix_;
+  const std::string substr_;
   const std::regex regex_;
 };
 
diff --git a/test/common/stats/stats_impl_test.cc b/test/common/stats/stats_impl_test.cc
index 0518fe31ae079..70032a59a1b83 100644
--- a/test/common/stats/stats_impl_test.cc
+++ b/test/common/stats/stats_impl_test.cc
@@ -111,6 +111,18 @@ TEST(TagExtractorTest, SingleSubexpression) {
   EXPECT_EQ("listner_port", tags.at(0).name_);
 }
 
+TEST(TagExtractorTest, substrMismatch) {
+  TagExtractorImpl tag_extractor("listner_port", "^listener\\.(\\d+?\\.)\\.foo\\.", ".foo.");
+  EXPECT_TRUE(tag_extractor.substrMismatch("listener.80.downstream_cx_total"));
+  EXPECT_FALSE(tag_extractor.substrMismatch("listener.80.downstream_cx_total.foo.bar"));
+}
+
+TEST(TagExtractorTest, noSubstrMismatch) {
+  TagExtractorImpl tag_extractor("listner_port", "^listener\\.(\\d+?\\.)\\.foo\\.");
+  EXPECT_FALSE(tag_extractor.substrMismatch("listener.80.downstream_cx_total"));
+  EXPECT_FALSE(tag_extractor.substrMismatch("listener.80.downstream_cx_total.foo.bar"));
+}
+
 TEST(TagExtractorTest, EmptyName) {
   EXPECT_THROW_WITH_MESSAGE(TagExtractorImpl::createTagExtractor("", "^listener\\.(\\d+?\\.)"),
                             EnvoyException, "tag_name cannot be empty");