diff --git a/packages/durabletask-js/src/client/client.ts b/packages/durabletask-js/src/client/client.ts
index efdc5e7..f3263d6 100644
--- a/packages/durabletask-js/src/client/client.ts
+++ b/packages/durabletask-js/src/client/client.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import { FailureDetails } from "../task/failure-details";
 import { Logger, ConsoleLogger } from "../types/logger.type";
 import { StartOrchestrationOptions } from "../task/options";
 import { mapToRecord } from "../utils/tags.util";
+import { populateTagsMap } from "../utils/pb-helper.util";
 
 // Re-export MetadataGenerator for backward compatibility
 export { MetadataGenerator } from "../utils/grpc-helper.util";
@@ -188,12 +189,7 @@ export class TaskHubGrpcClient {
     req.setInput(i);
     req.setScheduledstarttimestamp(ts);
 
-    if (tags) {
-      const tagsMap = req.getTagsMap();
-      for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(tags)) {
-        tagsMap.set(key, value);
-      }
-    }
+    populateTagsMap(req.getTagsMap(), tags);
 
     this._logger.info(`Starting new ${name} instance with ID = ${req.getInstanceid()}`);
 
diff --git a/packages/durabletask-js/src/utils/pb-helper.util.ts b/packages/durabletask-js/src/utils/pb-helper.util.ts
index cc8c60f..ddae925 100644
--- a/packages/durabletask-js/src/utils/pb-helper.util.ts
+++ b/packages/durabletask-js/src/utils/pb-helper.util.ts
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ export function getStringValue(val?: string): StringValue | undefined {
  *   to store tag key-value pairs.
  * @param tags - An optional record of tag key-value pairs to add to the map.
  */
-function populateTagsMap(
+export function populateTagsMap(
   tagsMap: { set: (key: string, value: string) => void },
   tags?: Record<string, string>,
 ): void {