diff --git a/gnmi_set/gnmi_set.go b/gnmi_set/gnmi_set.go
index c5af9972..6b20f42f 100644
--- a/gnmi_set/gnmi_set.go
+++ b/gnmi_set/gnmi_set.go
@@ -59,11 +59,11 @@ var (
 func buildPbUpdateList(pathValuePairs []string) []*pb.Update {
 	var pbUpdateList []*pb.Update
 	for _, item := range pathValuePairs {
-		pathValuePair := strings.SplitN(item, ":", 2)
-		// TODO (leguo): check if any path attribute contains ':'
-		if len(pathValuePair) != 2 || len(pathValuePair[1]) == 0 {
+		splitIndex := strings.LastIndexAny(item, ":")
+		if splitIndex < 1 {
 			log.Exitf("invalid path-value pair: %v", item)
 		}
+		pathValuePair := []string{item[:splitIndex], item[(splitIndex + 1):]}
 		pbPath, err := xpath.ToGNMIPath(pathValuePair[0])
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Exitf("error in parsing xpath %q to gnmi path", pathValuePair[0])
diff --git a/utils/xpath/path.go b/utils/xpath/path.go
index 57f05384..ebcee168 100644
--- a/utils/xpath/path.go
+++ b/utils/xpath/path.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package xpath
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 
 	pb "github.com/openconfig/gnmi/proto/gnmi"
 )
@@ -40,6 +41,12 @@ import (
 //    elem: <name: "state" >
 //    elem: <name: "counters" >
 func ToGNMIPath(xpath string) (*pb.Path, error) {
+	var origin string
+	i := strings.Index(xpath, ":")
+	if i != -1 {
+		origin = xpath[:i]
+		xpath = xpath[i+1:]
+	}
 	xpathElements, err := ParseStringPath(xpath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -62,5 +69,5 @@ func ToGNMIPath(xpath string) (*pb.Path, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("wrong data type: %T", v)
 		}
 	}
-	return &pb.Path{Elem: pbPathElements}, nil
+	return &pb.Path{Origin: origin, Elem: pbPathElements}, nil
 }