diff --git a/tools/run_tests/filter_pull_request_tests.py b/tools/run_tests/filter_pull_request_tests.py
index 55dab42f8a7a6afba1488a6e25cdecc7550bcf02..e2027a234029c01b0a229625de0d81487fa3809a 100644
--- a/tools/run_tests/filter_pull_request_tests.py
+++ b/tools/run_tests/filter_pull_request_tests.py
@@ -36,18 +36,16 @@ from subprocess import call, check_output
 
 class TestSuite:
   """
-  Contains tag to identify job as belonging to this test suite and
+  Contains label to identify job as belonging to this test suite and
   triggers to identify if changed files are relevant
   """
-  def __init__(self, tags):
+  def __init__(self, labels):
     """
-    Build TestSuite to group tests by their tags
-    :param tag: string used to identify if a job belongs to this TestSuite
-    todo(mattkwong): Change the use of tag because do not want to depend on
-    job.shortname to identify what suite a test belongs to
+    Build TestSuite to group tests based on labeling
+    :param label: strings that should match a jobs's platform, config, language, or test group
     """
     self.triggers = []
-    self.tags = tags
+    self.labels = labels
 
   def add_trigger(self, trigger):
     """
@@ -56,46 +54,75 @@ class TestSuite:
     """
     self.triggers.append(trigger)
 
+
 # Create test suites
-_core_test_suite = TestSuite(['_c_'])
-_cpp_test_suite = TestSuite(['_c++_'])
-_csharp_test_suite = TestSuite(['_csharp_'])
-_node_test_suite = TestSuite(['_node_'])
-_objc_test_suite = TestSuite(['_objc_'])
-_php_test_suite = TestSuite(['_php_', '_php7_'])
-_python_test_suite = TestSuite(['_python_'])
-_ruby_test_suite = TestSuite(['_ruby'])
-_all_test_suites = [_core_test_suite, _cpp_test_suite, _csharp_test_suite,
-                    _node_test_suite, _objc_test_suite, _php_test_suite,
-                    _python_test_suite, _ruby_test_suite]
+_SANITY_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['sanity'])
+_CORE_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['c'])
+_CPP_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['c++'])
+_CSHARP_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['csharp'])
+_NODE_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['node'])
+_OBJC_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['objc'])
+_PHP_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['php', 'php7'])
+_PYTHON_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['python'])
+_RUBY_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['ruby'])
+_LINUX_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['linux'])
+_WINDOWS_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['windows'])
+_MACOS_TEST_SUITE = TestSuite(['macos'])
+_ALL_TEST_SUITES = [_SANITY_TEST_SUITE, _CORE_TEST_SUITE, _CPP_TEST_SUITE,
+                    _CSHARP_TEST_SUITE, _NODE_TEST_SUITE, _OBJC_TEST_SUITE,
+                    _PHP_TEST_SUITE, _PYTHON_TEST_SUITE, _RUBY_TEST_SUITE,
+                    _LINUX_TEST_SUITE, _WINDOWS_TEST_SUITE, _MACOS_TEST_SUITE]
 
 # Dictionary of whitelistable files where the key is a regex matching changed files
 # and the value is a list of tests that should be run. An empty list means that
 # the changed files should not trigger any tests. Any changed file that does not
 # match any of these regexes will trigger all tests
 _WHITELIST_DICT = {
-  '^templates/.*': [],
-  '^doc/.*': [],
-  '^examples/.*': [],
-  '^summerofcode/.*': [],
-  '.*README.md$': [],
-  '.*LICENSE$': [],
-  '^src/cpp.*': [_cpp_test_suite],
-  '^src/csharp.*': [_csharp_test_suite],
-  '^src/node.*': [_node_test_suite],
-  '^src/objective-c.*': [_objc_test_suite],
-  '^src/php.*': [_php_test_suite],
-  '^src/python.*': [_python_test_suite],
-  '^src/ruby.*': [_ruby_test_suite],
-  '^test/core.*': [_core_test_suite],
-  '^test/cpp.*': [_cpp_test_suite],
-  '^test/distrib/cpp.*': [_cpp_test_suite],
-  '^test/distrib/csharp.*': [_csharp_test_suite],
-  '^test/distrib/node.*': [_node_test_suite],
-  '^test/distrib/php.*': [_php_test_suite],
-  '^test/distrib/python.*': [_python_test_suite],
-  '^test/distrib/ruby.*': [_ruby_test_suite]
+  '^doc/': [],
+  '^examples/': [],
+  '^include/grpc\+\+/': [_CPP_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^summerofcode/': [],
+  '^src/cpp/': [_CPP_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^src/csharp/': [_CSHARP_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^src/node/': [_NODE_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^src/objective\-c/': [_OBJC_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^src/php/': [_PHP_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^src/python/': [_PYTHON_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^src/ruby/': [_RUBY_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^templates/': [_SANITY_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^test/core/': [_CORE_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^test/cpp/': [_CPP_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^test/distrib/cpp/': [_CPP_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^test/distrib/csharp/': [_CSHARP_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^test/distrib/node/': [_NODE_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^test/distrib/php/': [_PHP_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^test/distrib/python/': [_PYTHON_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^test/distrib/ruby/': [_RUBY_TEST_SUITE],
+  '^vsprojects/': [_WINDOWS_TEST_SUITE],
+  'binding\.gyp$': [_NODE_TEST_SUITE],
+  'composer\.json$': [_PHP_TEST_SUITE],
+  'config\.m4$': [_PHP_TEST_SUITE],
+  'CONTRIBUTING\.md$': [],
+  'Gemfile$': [_RUBY_TEST_SUITE],
+  'grpc.def$': [_WINDOWS_TEST_SUITE],
+  'grpc\.gemspec$': [_RUBY_TEST_SUITE],
+  'gRPC\.podspec$': [_OBJC_TEST_SUITE],
+  'gRPC\-Core\.podspec$': [_OBJC_TEST_SUITE],
+  'gRPC\-ProtoRPC\.podspec$': [_OBJC_TEST_SUITE],
+  'gRPC\-RxLibrary\.podspec$': [_OBJC_TEST_SUITE],
+  'INSTALL\.md$': [],
+  'LICENSE$': [],
+  'MANIFEST\.md$': [],
+  'package\.json$': [_PHP_TEST_SUITE],
+  'package\.xml$': [_PHP_TEST_SUITE],
+  'PATENTS$': [],
+  'PYTHON\-MANIFEST\.in$': [_PYTHON_TEST_SUITE],
+  'README\.md$': [],
+  'requirements\.txt$': [_PYTHON_TEST_SUITE],
+  'setup\.cfg$': [_PYTHON_TEST_SUITE],
+  'setup\.py$': [_PYTHON_TEST_SUITE]
 }
+
 # Add all triggers to their respective test suites
 for trigger, test_suites in _WHITELIST_DICT.iteritems():
   for test_suite in test_suites:
@@ -106,10 +133,6 @@ def _get_changed_files(base_branch):
   """
   Get list of changed files between current branch and base of target merge branch
   """
-  # git fetch might need to be called on Jenkins slave
-  # todo(mattkwong): remove or uncomment below after seeing if Jenkins needs this
-  # call(['git', 'fetch'])
-
   # Get file changes between branch and merge-base of specified branch
   # Not combined to be Windows friendly
   base_commit = check_output(["git", "merge-base", base_branch, "HEAD"]).rstrip()
@@ -129,27 +152,17 @@ def _can_skip_tests(file_names, triggers):
   return True
 
 
-def _remove_irrelevant_tests(tests, tag):
+def _remove_irrelevant_tests(tests, skippable_labels):
   """
   Filters out tests by config or language - will not remove sanitizer tests
   :param tests: list of all tests generated by run_tests_matrix.py
-  :param tag: string representing language or config to filter - "_(language)_" or "_(config)"
-  :return: list of relevant tests
-  """
-  # todo(mattkwong): find a more reliable way to filter tests - don't use shortname
-  return [test for test in tests if tag not in test.shortname or
-          any(san_tag in test.shortname for san_tag in ['_asan', '_tsan', '_msan'])]
-
-
-def _remove_sanitizer_tests(tests):
-  """
-  Filters out sanitizer tests
-  :param tests: list of all tests generated by run_tests_matrix.py
+  :param skippable_labels: list of languages and platforms with skippable tests
   :return: list of relevant tests
   """
-  # todo(mattkwong): find a more reliable way to filter tests - don't use shortname
-  return [test for test in tests if
-          all(san_tag not in test.shortname for san_tag in ['_asan', '_tsan', '_msan'])]
+  # test.labels[0] is platform and test.labels[2] is language
+  # We skip a test if both are considered safe to skip
+  return [test for test in tests if test.labels[0] not in skippable_labels or \
+          test.labels[2] not in skippable_labels]
 
 
 def filter_tests(tests, base_branch):
@@ -158,7 +171,7 @@ def filter_tests(tests, base_branch):
   :param tests: list of all tests generated by run_tests_matrix.py
   :return: list of relevant tests
   """
-  print("Finding file differences between %s repo and current branch...\n" % base_branch)
+  print("Finding file differences between gRPC %s branch and pull request...\n" % base_branch)
   changed_files = _get_changed_files(base_branch)
   for changed_file in changed_files:
     print(changed_file)
@@ -170,15 +183,13 @@ def filter_tests(tests, base_branch):
   for changed_file in changed_files:
     if not re.match(all_triggers, changed_file):
       return(tests)
-  # Filter out tests by language
-  for test_suite in _all_test_suites:
+  # Figure out which language and platform tests to run
+  skippable_labels = []
+  for test_suite in _ALL_TEST_SUITES:
     if _can_skip_tests(changed_files, test_suite.triggers):
-      for tag in test_suite.tags:
-        print("  Filtering %s tests" % tag)
-        tests = _remove_irrelevant_tests(tests, tag)
-  # Sanitizer tests skipped if core and c++ are skipped
-  if _can_skip_tests(changed_files, _cpp_test_suite.triggers + _core_test_suite.triggers):
-    print("  Filtering Sanitizer tests")
-    tests = _remove_sanitizer_tests(tests)
+      for label in test_suite.labels:
+        print("  Filtering %s tests" % label)
+        skippable_labels.append(label)
 
+  tests = _remove_irrelevant_tests(tests, skippable_labels)
   return tests