diff --git a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/common/SingerConfigDef.java b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/common/SingerConfigDef.java
index 92aeac77..b426aa59 100644
--- a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/common/SingerConfigDef.java
+++ b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/common/SingerConfigDef.java
@@ -102,6 +102,8 @@ public class SingerConfigDef {
   public static final String PROCESS_BATCH_SIZE = "batchSize";
   public static final String SKIP_DRAINING = "skipDraining";
 
+  public static final String TEXT_READER_FILTER_MESSAGE_REGEX = "filterMessageRegex";
+
   public static final String BUCKET = "bucket";
   public static final String KEY_FORMAT = "keyFormat";
   public static final String MAX_FILE_SIZE_MB = "maxFileSizeMB";
diff --git a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/processor/DefaultLogStreamProcessor.java b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/processor/DefaultLogStreamProcessor.java
index 239a0873..e8a379a2 100644
--- a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/processor/DefaultLogStreamProcessor.java
+++ b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/processor/DefaultLogStreamProcessor.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import com.pinterest.singer.common.SingerSettings;
 import com.pinterest.singer.config.Decider;
 import com.pinterest.singer.metrics.OpenTsdbMetricConverter;
+import com.pinterest.singer.reader.LogFileReader;
 import com.pinterest.singer.thrift.LogFile;
 import com.pinterest.singer.thrift.LogFileAndPath;
 import com.pinterest.singer.thrift.LogMessage;
@@ -312,8 +313,8 @@ int getDeciderValue() {
    */
   protected boolean shouldSkipMessage(LogMessageAndPosition logMessageAndPosition) {
     return logMessageAndPosition != null && logMessageAndPosition.getInjectedHeaders() != null
-        && logMessageAndPosition.getInjectedHeaders().containsKey("skipMessage")
-        && logMessageAndPosition.getInjectedHeaders().get("skipMessage").array().length == 0;
+        && logMessageAndPosition.getInjectedHeaders().containsKey(LogFileReader.SKIP_MESSAGE_HEADER_KEY)
+        && logMessageAndPosition.getInjectedHeaders().get(LogFileReader.SKIP_MESSAGE_HEADER_KEY).array().length == 0;
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/LogFileReader.java b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/LogFileReader.java
index c03b9822..23f1630c 100644
--- a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/LogFileReader.java
+++ b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/LogFileReader.java
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@
  */
 public interface LogFileReader extends Closeable {
 
+  /**
+   * Readers should inject this header to signal processor to skip a message
+   */
+  String SKIP_MESSAGE_HEADER_KEY = "skipMessage";
+
   /**
    * Read a LogMessage with its position.
    *
diff --git a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/TextLogFileReader.java b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/TextLogFileReader.java
index c3157520..1c663c81 100644
--- a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/TextLogFileReader.java
+++ b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/TextLogFileReader.java
@@ -199,11 +199,11 @@ public LogMessageAndPosition readLogMessageAndPosition() throws LogFileReaderExc
       // Get the next message's byte offset
       LogPosition position = new LogPosition(logFile, textMessageReader.getByteOffset());
       LogMessageAndPosition logMessageAndPosition = new LogMessageAndPosition(logMessage, position);
-      // Inject an immutable map with a single skipMessage header so that processors can skip this message
+      // Inject an immutable map with a single "skipMessage" header so that processors can skip this message
       // we initialize it here in case environmentVariableInjection is disabled
       if (skipLogMessage) {
         logMessageAndPosition.setInjectedHeaders(
-            ImmutableMap.of("skipMessage", ByteBuffer.wrap(new byte[0])));
+            ImmutableMap.of(LogFileReader.SKIP_MESSAGE_HEADER_KEY, ByteBuffer.wrap(new byte[0])));
         OpenTsdbMetricConverter.incr("singer.reader.text.filtered_messages",
             "logName=" + logStream.getSingerLog().getSingerLogConfig().getName());
       } else {
diff --git a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/utils/LogConfigUtils.java b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/utils/LogConfigUtils.java
index 3de37b73..280dab44 100644
--- a/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/utils/LogConfigUtils.java
+++ b/singer/src/main/java/com/pinterest/singer/utils/LogConfigUtils.java
@@ -1203,15 +1203,18 @@ protected static TextReaderConfig parseTextReaderConfig(AbstractConfiguration te
       }
     }
 
-    if (textReaderConfiguration.containsKey("filterMessageRegex")) {
+    if (textReaderConfiguration.containsKey(SingerConfigDef.TEXT_READER_FILTER_MESSAGE_REGEX)) {
       try {
-        String filterMessageRegex = textReaderConfiguration.getString("filterMessageRegex");
+        String
+            filterMessageRegex =
+            textReaderConfiguration.getString(SingerConfigDef.TEXT_READER_FILTER_MESSAGE_REGEX);
         if (!filterMessageRegex.isEmpty()) {
           Pattern.compile(filterMessageRegex);
           config.setFilterMessageRegex(filterMessageRegex);
         }
       } catch (PatternSyntaxException ex) {
-        throw new ConfigurationException("Bad filterMessageRegex", ex);
+        throw new ConfigurationException(
+            "Failed to compile " + SingerConfigDef.TEXT_READER_FILTER_MESSAGE_REGEX, ex);
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/singer/src/test/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/TestTextLogFileReader.java b/singer/src/test/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/TestTextLogFileReader.java
index eff4aa08..56691b12 100644
--- a/singer/src/test/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/TestTextLogFileReader.java
+++ b/singer/src/test/java/com/pinterest/singer/reader/TestTextLogFileReader.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import com.pinterest.singer.SingerTestBase;
 import com.pinterest.singer.common.LogStream;
+import com.pinterest.singer.common.SingerConfigDef;
 import com.pinterest.singer.common.SingerLog;
 import com.pinterest.singer.thrift.LogFile;
 import com.pinterest.singer.thrift.LogMessageAndPosition;
@@ -126,8 +127,8 @@ public void testReadMessagesWithFilterRegexEnabled() throws Exception {
       LogMessageAndPosition log = reader.readLogMessageAndPosition();
       if (i % 2 == 0) {
         assertEquals(customInfoMessage, new String(log.getLogMessage().getMessage()));
-        assertTrue(log.getInjectedHeaders().containsKey("skipMessage"));
-        assertEquals(0, log.getInjectedHeaders().get("skipMessage").array().length);
+        assertTrue(log.getInjectedHeaders().containsKey(LogFileReader.SKIP_MESSAGE_HEADER_KEY));
+        assertEquals(0, log.getInjectedHeaders().get(LogFileReader.SKIP_MESSAGE_HEADER_KEY).array().length);
       } else {
         assertEquals(customErrorMessage, new String(log.getLogMessage().getMessage()));
         assertEquals(null, log.getInjectedHeaders());