diff --git a/src/Tools/dotnet-counters/Exporters/ConsoleWriter.cs b/src/Tools/dotnet-counters/Exporters/ConsoleWriter.cs
index ff92bf39a9..c59f95474d 100644
--- a/src/Tools/dotnet-counters/Exporters/ConsoleWriter.cs
+++ b/src/Tools/dotnet-counters/Exporters/ConsoleWriter.cs
@@ -192,17 +192,33 @@ private bool RenderTagSetsInColumnMode(ref int row, ObservedCounter counter)
                 for (int i = 0; i < tags.Length; i++)
                 {
                     string tag = tags[i];
-                    string[] keyValue = tag.Split("=");
-                    int posTag = observedTags.FindIndex (tag => tag.header == keyValue[0]);
+                    string[] keyValue = tag.Split(new char[] { '=' }, 2); // Split into at most 2 parts to handle values with '='
+
+                    // Skip malformed tags that don't have both key and value
+                    if (keyValue.Length != 2)
+                    {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    string key = keyValue[0].Trim();
+                    string value = keyValue[1];
+
+                    // Skip empty keys
+                    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(key))
+                    {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    int posTag = observedTags.FindIndex (tag => tag.header == key);
                     if (posTag == -1)
                     {
-                        observedTags.Add((keyValue[0], new string[counter.TagSets.Count]));
-                        columnHeaderLen.Add(keyValue[0].Length);
+                        observedTags.Add((key, new string[counter.TagSets.Count]));
+                        columnHeaderLen.Add(key.Length);
                         maxValueColumnLen.Add(default(int));
                         posTag = observedTags.Count - 1;
                     }
-                    observedTags[posTag].values[tagsCount] = keyValue[1];
-                    maxValueColumnLen[posTag] = Math.Max(keyValue[1].Length, maxValueColumnLen[posTag]);
+                    observedTags[posTag].values[tagsCount] = value;
+                    maxValueColumnLen[posTag] = Math.Max(value.Length, maxValueColumnLen[posTag]);
                 }
                 tagsCount++;
             }
diff --git a/src/tests/dotnet-counters/ConsoleExporterTests.cs b/src/tests/dotnet-counters/ConsoleExporterTests.cs
index 53e1ca1706..9a26e77302 100644
--- a/src/tests/dotnet-counters/ConsoleExporterTests.cs
+++ b/src/tests/dotnet-counters/ConsoleExporterTests.cs
@@ -300,6 +300,30 @@ public void CountersAreTruncatedBeyondScreenHeight()
                                      "        color");
         }
 
+        [Fact]
+        public void MalformedTagsDoNotCrash()
+        {
+            // Defensive test: verifies that malformed tags are handled gracefully
+            // WITHOUT the defensive fix, this test throws IndexOutOfRangeException
+            // WITH the defensive fix, malformed tags are skipped and no crash occurs
+            MockConsole console = new MockConsole(60, 40);
+            ConsoleWriter exporter = new ConsoleWriter(console);
+            exporter.Initialize();
+
+            // These would crash the old code by trying to access keyValue[1] when keyValue.Length == 1
+            // Tag with no '=' - would cause IndexOutOfRangeException in old code
+            exporter.CounterPayloadReceived(CreateMeterCounterPreNet8("Provider1", "Counter1", "{widget}", "BadTagNoEquals", 10), false);
+            
+            // Tag with only whitespace
+            exporter.CounterPayloadReceived(CreateMeterCounterPreNet8("Provider1", "Counter2", "{widget}", "   ", 20), false);
+            
+            // Mix of valid and invalid tags - only valid one should be processed
+            exporter.CounterPayloadReceived(CreateMeterCounterPreNet8("Provider1", "Counter3", "{widget}", "InvalidTag,color=blue", 30), false);
+
+            // If we got here without throwing IndexOutOfRangeException, the defensive code worked!
+            // The test passes simply by completing successfully
+        }
+
         [Fact]
         public void ErrorStatusIsDisplayed()
         {