Abstract: A method for managing routing tables and data packet forwarding is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining, at a networking device, a first outgoing label associated with one or more output port identifiers of the networking device. The first outgoing label identifies a first destination node. The one or more output port identifiers identify one or more of a plurality of output ports. The method further comprises determining whether or not the one or more output port identifiers are also associated with a second outgoing label. The second outgoing label identifies a second destination node different from the first destination node. The method further comprises merging, into a next hop table allocated in a non-transitory memory, the first outgoing label with the second outgoing label in response to determining that the one or more output port identifiers are also associated with the second outgoing label.