A method and apparatus for a label forwarding information base is described. A machine-readable medium provides instructions, which when executed by a set of one or more processors, cause said set of processors to perform operations that comprise selecting forwarding information for a label of a packet with a set of most significant bits (MSBs) of the label and a set of least significant bits (LSBs) of the label, but not all of the label's bits unless the set of MSBs and the set of LSBs match a second label's MSBs and LSBs, and forwarding the packet with the forwarding information.