diff --git a/tap_github/scraping.py b/tap_github/scraping.py
index f3f043b8..35be8b61 100644
--- a/tap_github/scraping.py
+++ b/tap_github/scraping.py
@@ -93,9 +93,12 @@ def _scrape_dependents(url: str, logger: logging.Logger) -> Iterable[Dict[str, A
             url = ""
 
 
-def parse_counter(
-    tag: Union[Tag, NavigableString, None], logger: logging.Logger
-) -> int:
+def parse_counter(tag: Union[Tag, NavigableString, None]) -> int:
+    """
+    Extract a count of [issues|PR|contributors...] from an HTML tag.
+    For very high numbers, we only get an approximate value as github
+    does not provide the actual number.
+    """
     if not tag:
         return 0
     try:
@@ -106,8 +109,8 @@ def parse_counter(
             title_string = cast(str, title)
         else:
             title_string = cast(str, title[0])
-        return int(title_string.strip().replace(",", ""))
-    except KeyError:
+        return int(title_string.strip().replace(",", "").replace("+", ""))
+    except (KeyError, ValueError):
         raise IndexError(
             f"Could not parse counter {tag}. Maybe the GitHub page format has changed?"
         )
@@ -123,10 +126,8 @@ def scrape_metrics(
     soup = BeautifulSoup(response.content, "html.parser")
 
     try:
-        issues = parse_counter(soup.find("span", id="issues-repo-tab-count"), logger)
-        prs = parse_counter(
-            soup.find("span", id="pull-requests-repo-tab-count"), logger
-        )
+        issues = parse_counter(soup.find("span", id="issues-repo-tab-count"))
+        prs = parse_counter(soup.find("span", id="pull-requests-repo-tab-count"))
     except IndexError:
         # These two items should exist. We raise an error if we could not find them.
         raise IndexError(
@@ -140,9 +141,7 @@ def scrape_metrics(
     dependents: int = 0
     if dependents_node_parent is not None:
         if dependents_node_parent["href"].endswith("/network/dependents"):
-            dependents = parse_counter(
-                getattr(dependents_node, "next_element", None), logger
-            )
+            dependents = parse_counter(getattr(dependents_node, "next_element", None))
 
     # likewise, handle edge cases with contributors
     contributors_node = soup.find(text=contributors_regex)
@@ -152,7 +151,6 @@ def scrape_metrics(
         if contributors_node_parent["href"].endswith("/graphs/contributors"):
             contributors = parse_counter(
                 getattr(contributors_node, "next_element", None),
-                logger,
             )
 
     fetched_at = datetime.now(tz=timezone.utc)
diff --git a/tap_github/tests/test_tap.py b/tap_github/tests/test_tap.py
index 4004c904..1ffb0faf 100644
--- a/tap_github/tests/test_tap.py
+++ b/tap_github/tests/test_tap.py
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
 import pytest
+from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
 from dateutil.parser import isoparse
 from singer_sdk._singerlib import Catalog
 from singer_sdk.helpers import _catalog as cat_helpers
 
+from tap_github.scraping import parse_counter
 from tap_github.tap import TapGitHub
 
 from .fixtures import alternative_sync_chidren, repo_list_config, username_list_config
@@ -165,3 +167,30 @@ def test_get_a_user_in_user_usernames_mode(
     assert '{"username": "aaronsteers"' in captured_out
     assert '{"username": "aaRONsTeeRS"' not in captured_out
     assert '{"username": "EricBoucher"' not in captured_out
+
+
+def test_web_tag_parse_counter():
+    """
+    Check that the parser runs ok on various forms of counters.
+    Used in extra_metrics stream.
+    """
+    # regular int
+    tag = BeautifulSoup(
+        '<span id="issues-repo-tab-count" title="57" class="Counter">57</span>',
+        "html.parser",
+    ).span
+    assert parse_counter(tag) == 57
+
+    # 2k
+    tag = BeautifulSoup(
+        '<span id="issues-repo-tab-count" title="2028" class="Counter">2k</span>',
+        "html.parser",
+    ).span
+    assert parse_counter(tag) == 2028
+
+    # 5k+. The real number is not available in the page, use this approx value
+    tag = BeautifulSoup(
+        '<span id="issues-repo-tab-count" title="5,000+" class="Counter">5k+</span>',
+        "html.parser",
+    ).span
+    assert parse_counter(tag) == 5_000