diff --git a/internal-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/TagMap.java b/internal-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/TagMap.java
index 1166a2ebcfa..79fc79e4c4d 100644
--- a/internal-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/TagMap.java
+++ b/internal-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/TagMap.java
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ public final String tag() {
     }
 
     public final boolean matches(String tag) {
-      return this.tag.equals(tag);
+      return (this.tag == tag) || this.tag.equals(tag);
     }
 
     public abstract boolean isRemoval();