diff --git a/app/victoria-metrics/self_scraper.go b/app/victoria-metrics/self_scraper.go
index e8540eddd..931e5a517 100644
--- a/app/victoria-metrics/self_scraper.go
+++ b/app/victoria-metrics/self_scraper.go
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func addLabel(dst []prompb.Label, key, value string) []prompb.Label {
 		dst = append(dst, prompb.Label{})
 	}
 	lb := &dst[len(dst)-1]
-	lb.Name = bytesutil.ToUnsafeBytes(key)
-	lb.Value = bytesutil.ToUnsafeBytes(value)
+	lb.Name = key
+	lb.Value = value
 	return dst
 }
diff --git a/app/vmagent/promremotewrite/request_handler.go b/app/vmagent/promremotewrite/request_handler.go
index 657c717d3..02f758c5d 100644
--- a/app/vmagent/promremotewrite/request_handler.go
+++ b/app/vmagent/promremotewrite/request_handler.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/app/vmagent/common"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/app/vmagent/remotewrite"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/auth"
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/prompb"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/prompbmarshal"
 	parserCommon "github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/protoparser/common"
@@ -48,8 +47,8 @@ func insertRows(at *auth.Token, timeseries []prompb.TimeSeries, extraLabels []pr
 		for i := range ts.Labels {
 			label := &ts.Labels[i]
 			labels = append(labels, prompbmarshal.Label{
-				Name:  bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(label.Name),
-				Value: bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(label.Value),
+				Name:  label.Name,
+				Value: label.Value,
 			})
 		}
 		labels = append(labels, extraLabels...)
diff --git a/app/vmctl/vm_native_test.go b/app/vmctl/vm_native_test.go
index 217df70aa..78c35612c 100644
--- a/app/vmctl/vm_native_test.go
+++ b/app/vmctl/vm_native_test.go
@@ -266,10 +266,16 @@ func fillStorage(series []vm.TimeSeries) error {
 	for _, series := range series {
 		var labels []prompb.Label
 		for _, lp := range series.LabelPairs {
-			labels = append(labels, prompb.Label{Name: []byte(lp.Name), Value: []byte(lp.Value)})
+			labels = append(labels, prompb.Label{
+				Name:  lp.Name,
+				Value: lp.Value,
+			})
 		}
 		if series.Name != "" {
-			labels = append(labels, prompb.Label{Name: []byte("__name__"), Value: []byte(series.Name)})
+			labels = append(labels, prompb.Label{
+				Name:  "__name__",
+				Value: series.Name,
+			})
 		}
 		mr := storage.MetricRow{}
 		mr.MetricNameRaw = storage.MarshalMetricNameRaw(mr.MetricNameRaw[:0], labels)
diff --git a/app/vminsert/common/insert_ctx.go b/app/vminsert/common/insert_ctx.go
index ef4ded190..27ac496a6 100644
--- a/app/vminsert/common/insert_ctx.go
+++ b/app/vminsert/common/insert_ctx.go
@@ -27,12 +27,11 @@ type InsertCtx struct {
 
 // Reset resets ctx for future fill with rowsLen rows.
 func (ctx *InsertCtx) Reset(rowsLen int) {
-	for i := range ctx.Labels {
-		label := &ctx.Labels[i]
-		label.Name = nil
-		label.Value = nil
+	labels := ctx.Labels
+	for i := range labels {
+		labels[i] = prompb.Label{}
 	}
-	ctx.Labels = ctx.Labels[:0]
+	ctx.Labels = labels[:0]
 
 	mrs := ctx.mrs
 	for i := range mrs {
@@ -112,8 +111,8 @@ func (ctx *InsertCtx) AddLabelBytes(name, value []byte) {
 	ctx.Labels = append(ctx.Labels, prompb.Label{
 		// Do not copy name and value contents for performance reasons.
 		// This reduces GC overhead on the number of objects and allocations.
-		Name:  name,
-		Value: value,
+		Name:  bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(name),
+		Value: bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(value),
 	})
 }
 
@@ -130,8 +129,8 @@ func (ctx *InsertCtx) AddLabel(name, value string) {
 	ctx.Labels = append(ctx.Labels, prompb.Label{
 		// Do not copy name and value contents for performance reasons.
 		// This reduces GC overhead on the number of objects and allocations.
-		Name:  bytesutil.ToUnsafeBytes(name),
-		Value: bytesutil.ToUnsafeBytes(value),
+		Name:  name,
+		Value: value,
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/app/vminsert/influx/request_handler.go b/app/vminsert/influx/request_handler.go
index 572b8f71f..39108a188 100644
--- a/app/vminsert/influx/request_handler.go
+++ b/app/vminsert/influx/request_handler.go
@@ -160,11 +160,9 @@ func (ctx *pushCtx) reset() {
 
 	originLabels := ctx.originLabels
 	for i := range originLabels {
-		label := &originLabels[i]
-		label.Name = nil
-		label.Value = nil
+		originLabels[i] = prompb.Label{}
 	}
-	ctx.originLabels = ctx.originLabels[:0]
+	ctx.originLabels = originLabels[:0]
 }
 
 func getPushCtx() *pushCtx {
diff --git a/app/vminsert/promremotewrite/request_handler.go b/app/vminsert/promremotewrite/request_handler.go
index dc01ec72e..0749d4dc4 100644
--- a/app/vminsert/promremotewrite/request_handler.go
+++ b/app/vminsert/promremotewrite/request_handler.go
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func insertRows(timeseries []prompb.TimeSeries, extraLabels []prompbmarshal.Labe
 		ctx.Labels = ctx.Labels[:0]
 		srcLabels := ts.Labels
 		for _, srcLabel := range srcLabels {
-			ctx.AddLabelBytes(srcLabel.Name, srcLabel.Value)
+			ctx.AddLabel(srcLabel.Name, srcLabel.Value)
 		}
 		for j := range extraLabels {
 			label := &extraLabels[j]
diff --git a/app/vminsert/relabel/relabel.go b/app/vminsert/relabel/relabel.go
index 3508f154b..17a969445 100644
--- a/app/vminsert/relabel/relabel.go
+++ b/app/vminsert/relabel/relabel.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"sync/atomic"
 
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/fasttime"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/logger"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/procutil"
@@ -118,11 +117,11 @@ func (ctx *Ctx) ApplyRelabeling(labels []prompb.Label) []prompb.Label {
 	// Convert labels to prompbmarshal.Label format suitable for relabeling.
 	tmpLabels := ctx.tmpLabels[:0]
 	for _, label := range labels {
-		name := bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(label.Name)
-		if len(name) == 0 {
+		name := label.Name
+		if name == "" {
 			name = "__name__"
 		}
-		value := bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(label.Value)
+		value := label.Value
 		tmpLabels = append(tmpLabels, prompbmarshal.Label{
 			Name:  name,
 			Value: value,
@@ -155,11 +154,11 @@ func (ctx *Ctx) ApplyRelabeling(labels []prompb.Label) []prompb.Label {
 	// Return back labels to the desired format.
 	dst := labels[:0]
 	for _, label := range tmpLabels {
-		name := bytesutil.ToUnsafeBytes(label.Name)
+		name := label.Name
 		if label.Name == "__name__" {
-			name = nil
+			name = ""
 		}
-		value := bytesutil.ToUnsafeBytes(label.Value)
+		value := label.Value
 		dst = append(dst, prompb.Label{
 			Name:  name,
 			Value: value,
diff --git a/app/vmselect/graphite/tags_api.go b/app/vmselect/graphite/tags_api.go
index 75da7878d..d558388a0 100644
--- a/app/vmselect/graphite/tags_api.go
+++ b/app/vmselect/graphite/tags_api.go
@@ -123,13 +123,13 @@ func registerMetrics(startTime time.Time, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request
 
 		// Convert parsed metric and tags to labels.
 		labels = append(labels[:0], prompb.Label{
-			Name:  []byte("__name__"),
-			Value: []byte(row.Metric),
+			Name:  "__name__",
+			Value: row.Metric,
 		})
 		for _, tag := range row.Tags {
 			labels = append(labels, prompb.Label{
-				Name:  []byte(tag.Key),
-				Value: []byte(tag.Value),
+				Name:  tag.Key,
+				Value: tag.Value,
 			})
 		}
 
diff --git a/lib/prompb/types.pb.go b/lib/prompb/types.pb.go
index c13292663..8fd98b216 100644
--- a/lib/prompb/types.pb.go
+++ b/lib/prompb/types.pb.go
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"math"
+
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
 )
 
 // Sample is a timeseries sample.
@@ -23,8 +25,8 @@ type TimeSeries struct {
 
 // Label is a timeseries label
 type Label struct {
-	Name  []byte
-	Value []byte
+	Name  string
+	Value string
 }
 
 // Unmarshal unmarshals sample from dAtA.
@@ -296,7 +298,7 @@ func (m *Label) Unmarshal(dAtA []byte) error {
 			if postIndex > l {
 				return io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
 			}
-			m.Name = dAtA[iNdEx:postIndex]
+			m.Name = bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(dAtA[iNdEx:postIndex])
 			iNdEx = postIndex
 		case 2:
 			if wireType != 2 {
@@ -325,7 +327,7 @@ func (m *Label) Unmarshal(dAtA []byte) error {
 			if postIndex > l {
 				return io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
 			}
-			m.Value = dAtA[iNdEx:postIndex]
+			m.Value = bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(dAtA[iNdEx:postIndex])
 			iNdEx = postIndex
 		default:
 			iNdEx = preIndex
diff --git a/lib/prompb/util.go b/lib/prompb/util.go
index ffda7168e..a606ff581 100644
--- a/lib/prompb/util.go
+++ b/lib/prompb/util.go
@@ -3,23 +3,17 @@ package prompb
 // Reset resets wr.
 func (wr *WriteRequest) Reset() {
 	for i := range wr.Timeseries {
-		ts := &wr.Timeseries[i]
-		ts.Labels = nil
-		ts.Samples = nil
+		wr.Timeseries[i] = TimeSeries{}
 	}
 	wr.Timeseries = wr.Timeseries[:0]
 
 	for i := range wr.labelsPool {
-		lb := &wr.labelsPool[i]
-		lb.Name = nil
-		lb.Value = nil
+		wr.labelsPool[i] = Label{}
 	}
 	wr.labelsPool = wr.labelsPool[:0]
 
 	for i := range wr.samplesPool {
-		s := &wr.samplesPool[i]
-		s.Value = 0
-		s.Timestamp = 0
+		wr.samplesPool[i] = Sample{}
 	}
 	wr.samplesPool = wr.samplesPool[:0]
 }
diff --git a/lib/storage/metric_name.go b/lib/storage/metric_name.go
index c7d8e3146..e2551f294 100644
--- a/lib/storage/metric_name.go
+++ b/lib/storage/metric_name.go
@@ -546,8 +546,8 @@ func MarshalMetricNameRaw(dst []byte, labels []prompb.Label) []byte {
 			// Skip labels without values, since they have no sense in prometheus.
 			continue
 		}
-		dst = marshalBytesFast(dst, label.Name)
-		dst = marshalBytesFast(dst, label.Value)
+		dst = marshalStringFast(dst, label.Name)
+		dst = marshalStringFast(dst, label.Value)
 	}
 	return dst
 }
@@ -659,6 +659,12 @@ func (mn *MetricName) UnmarshalRaw(src []byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func marshalStringFast(dst []byte, s string) []byte {
+	dst = encoding.MarshalUint16(dst, uint16(len(s)))
+	dst = append(dst, s...)
+	return dst
+}
+
 func marshalBytesFast(dst []byte, s []byte) []byte {
 	dst = encoding.MarshalUint16(dst, uint16(len(s)))
 	dst = append(dst, s...)