diff --git a/metacat-common-server/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/common/server/usermetadata/LookupService.java b/metacat-common-server/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/common/server/usermetadata/LookupService.java
index d1e31ac36..f07c62c54 100644
--- a/metacat-common-server/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/common/server/usermetadata/LookupService.java
+++ b/metacat-common-server/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/common/server/usermetadata/LookupService.java
@@ -31,12 +31,14 @@
 public interface LookupService {
     /**
      * Returns the lookup for the given <code>name</code>.
+     * If includeValues = true, we will set the Lookup values with the associated name, otherwise empty set
      *
      * @param name lookup name
+     * @param includeValues whether we should set the values or not in the Lookup Object
      * @return lookup
      */
     @Nullable
-    default Lookup get(final String name) {
+    default Lookup get(final String name, final boolean includeValues) {
         return null;
     }
 
@@ -78,7 +80,7 @@ default Set<String> getValues(final Long lookupId) {
      * @return updated lookup
      */
     @Nullable
-    default Lookup setValues(final String name, final Set<String> values) {
+    default Lookup setValues(final String name, final Set<String> values, final boolean includeValues) {
         return null;
     }
 
@@ -87,10 +89,11 @@ default Lookup setValues(final String name, final Set<String> values) {
      *
      * @param name   lookup name
      * @param values multiple values
+     * @param includeValues whether to include values in the final Lookup Object
      * @return updated lookup
      */
     @Nullable
-    default Lookup addValues(final String name, final Set<String> values) {
+    default Lookup addValues(final String name, final Set<String> values, boolean includeValues) {
         return null;
     }
 
@@ -99,10 +102,11 @@ default Lookup addValues(final String name, final Set<String> values) {
      *
      * @param name  lookup name
      * @param value lookup value
+     * @param includeValues whether to return lookup value in the Lookup Object
      * @return updated lookup
      */
     @Nullable
-    default Lookup setValue(final String name, final String value) {
+    default Lookup setValue(final String name, final String value, final boolean includeValues) {
         return null;
     }
 
diff --git a/metacat-metadata-mysql/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/metadata/mysql/MySqlLookupService.java b/metacat-metadata-mysql/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/metadata/mysql/MySqlLookupService.java
index ca84d53e3..e847c380c 100644
--- a/metacat-metadata-mysql/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/metadata/mysql/MySqlLookupService.java
+++ b/metacat-metadata-mysql/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/metadata/mysql/MySqlLookupService.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import java.sql.SQLException;
 import java.sql.Statement;
 import java.sql.Types;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
@@ -50,8 +51,15 @@ public class MySqlLookupService implements LookupService {
             + " values (?,0,?,?,?,now(),now())";
     private static final String SQL_INSERT_LOOKUP_VALUES =
         "insert into lookup_values( lookup_id, values_string) values (?,?)";
+    private static final String SQL_INSERT_LOOKUP_VALUE_IF_NOT_EXIST =
+        "INSERT INTO lookup_values(lookup_id, values_string) VALUES (?,?) " +
+            "ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE lookup_id=lookup_id, values_string=values_string";
     private static final String SQL_DELETE_LOOKUP_VALUES =
         "delete from lookup_values where lookup_id=? and values_string in (%s)";
+
+    private static final String SQL_DELETE_LOOKUP_VALUES_NOT_IN =
+        "delete from lookup_values where lookup_id=? and values_string not in (%s)";
+
     private static final String SQL_GET_LOOKUP_VALUES =
         "select values_string value from lookup_values where lookup_id=?";
     private static final String SQL_GET_LOOKUP_VALUES_BY_NAME =
@@ -79,7 +87,7 @@ public MySqlLookupService(final Config config, final JdbcTemplate jdbcTemplate)
      */
     @Override
     @Transactional(readOnly = true)
-    public Lookup get(final String name) {
+    public Lookup get(final String name, final boolean includeValues) {
         try {
             return jdbcTemplate.queryForObject(
                 SQL_GET_LOOKUP,
@@ -93,7 +101,7 @@ public Lookup get(final String name) {
                     lookup.setLastUpdated(rs.getDate("lastUpdated"));
                     lookup.setLastUpdatedBy(rs.getString("lastUpdatedBy"));
                     lookup.setDateCreated(rs.getDate("dateCreated"));
-                    lookup.setValues(getValues(rs.getLong("id")));
+                    lookup.setValues(includeValues ? getValues(rs.getLong("id")) : Collections.EMPTY_SET);
                     return lookup;
                 });
         } catch (EmptyResultDataAccessException e) {
@@ -170,25 +178,13 @@ public Set<String> getValues(final String name) {
      * @return returns the lookup with the given name.
      */
     @Override
-    public Lookup setValues(final String name, final Set<String> values) {
+    @Transactional
+    public Lookup setValues(final String name, final Set<String> values, final boolean includeValues) {
         try {
-            final Lookup lookup = findOrCreateLookupByName(name);
-            final Set<String> inserts;
-            Set<String> deletes = Sets.newHashSet();
-            final Set<String> lookupValues = lookup.getValues();
-            if (lookupValues == null || lookupValues.isEmpty()) {
-                inserts = values;
-            } else {
-                inserts = Sets.difference(values, lookupValues).immutableCopy();
-                deletes = Sets.difference(lookupValues, values).immutableCopy();
-            }
+            final Lookup lookup = findOrCreateLookupByName(name, includeValues);
+            insertLookupValuesIfNotExist(lookup.getId(), values);
+            deleteLookupValuesIfNotIn(lookup.getId(), values);
             lookup.setValues(values);
-            if (!inserts.isEmpty()) {
-                insertLookupValues(lookup.getId(), inserts);
-            }
-            if (!deletes.isEmpty()) {
-                deleteLookupValues(lookup.getId(), deletes);
-            }
             return lookup;
         } catch (Exception e) {
             final String message = String.format("Failed to set the lookup values for name %s", name);
@@ -202,21 +198,35 @@ private void insertLookupValues(final Long id, final Set<String> inserts) {
             .collect(Collectors.toList()), new int[]{Types.BIGINT, Types.VARCHAR});
     }
 
+    private void insertLookupValuesIfNotExist(final Long id, final Set<String> inserts) {
+        jdbcTemplate.batchUpdate(SQL_INSERT_LOOKUP_VALUE_IF_NOT_EXIST,
+            inserts.stream().map(insert -> new Object[]{id, insert})
+            .collect(Collectors.toList()), new int[]{Types.BIGINT, Types.VARCHAR});
+    }
+
     private void deleteLookupValues(final Long id, final Set<String> deletes) {
         jdbcTemplate.update(
             String.format(SQL_DELETE_LOOKUP_VALUES, "'" + Joiner.on("','").skipNulls().join(deletes) + "'"),
             new SqlParameterValue(Types.BIGINT, id));
     }
 
+    private void deleteLookupValuesIfNotIn(final long id, final Set<String> valuesToKeep) {
+        jdbcTemplate.update(
+            String.format(SQL_DELETE_LOOKUP_VALUES_NOT_IN,
+                "'" + Joiner.on("','").skipNulls().join(valuesToKeep) + "'"),
+            new SqlParameterValue(Types.BIGINT, id));
+    }
+
     /**
      * findOrCreateLookupByName.
      *
      * @param name name to find or create
+     * @param includeValues whether to include the values in the Lookup Object
      * @return Look up object
      * @throws SQLException sql exception
      */
-    private Lookup findOrCreateLookupByName(final String name) throws SQLException {
-        Lookup lookup = get(name);
+    private Lookup findOrCreateLookupByName(final String name, final boolean includeValues) throws SQLException {
+        Lookup lookup = get(name, includeValues);
         if (lookup == null) {
             final KeyHolder holder = new GeneratedKeyHolder();
             jdbcTemplate.update(connection -> {
@@ -244,20 +254,14 @@ private Lookup findOrCreateLookupByName(final String name) throws SQLException {
      * @return returns the lookup with the given name.
      */
     @Override
-    public Lookup addValues(final String name, final Set<String> values) {
+    public Lookup addValues(final String name, final Set<String> values, final boolean includeValues) {
         try {
-            final Lookup lookup = findOrCreateLookupByName(name);
-
-            final Set<String> inserts;
-            final Set<String> lookupValues = lookup.getValues();
-            if (lookupValues == null || lookupValues.isEmpty()) {
-                inserts = values;
-                lookup.setValues(values);
-            } else {
-                inserts = Sets.difference(values, lookupValues);
+            final Lookup lookup = findOrCreateLookupByName(name, includeValues);
+            if (!values.isEmpty()) {
+                insertLookupValuesIfNotExist(lookup.getId(), values);
             }
-            if (!inserts.isEmpty()) {
-                insertLookupValues(lookup.getId(), inserts);
+            if (includeValues) {
+                lookup.getValues().addAll(values);
             }
             return lookup;
         } catch (Exception e) {
@@ -275,7 +279,7 @@ public Lookup addValues(final String name, final Set<String> values) {
      * @return returns the lookup with the given name.
      */
     @Override
-    public Lookup setValue(final String name, final String value) {
-        return setValues(name, Sets.newHashSet(value));
+    public Lookup setValue(final String name, final String value, final boolean includeValues) {
+        return setValues(name, Sets.newHashSet(value), includeValues);
     }
 }
diff --git a/metacat-metadata-mysql/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/metadata/mysql/MySqlTagService.java b/metacat-metadata-mysql/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/metadata/mysql/MySqlTagService.java
index 8310d11ec..4064e68b3 100644
--- a/metacat-metadata-mysql/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/metadata/mysql/MySqlTagService.java
+++ b/metacat-metadata-mysql/src/main/java/com/netflix/metacat/metadata/mysql/MySqlTagService.java
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ public MySqlTagService(
 
     private Lookup addTags(final Set<String> tags) {
         try {
-            return lookupService.addValues(LOOKUP_NAME_TAG, tags);
+            return lookupService.addValues(LOOKUP_NAME_TAG, tags, false);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             final String message = String.format("Failed adding the tags %s", tags);
             log.error(message, e);