diff --git a/sgl-router/src/core/worker.rs b/sgl-router/src/core/worker.rs
index 4bb32df40..249d71592 100644
--- a/sgl-router/src/core/worker.rs
+++ b/sgl-router/src/core/worker.rs
@@ -247,6 +247,20 @@ pub enum ConnectionMode {
     },
 }
 
+impl ConnectionMode {
+    /// Check if this connection mode matches another, with special handling for gRPC
+    /// This allows matching any gRPC connection regardless of port when comparing
+    /// Grpc { port: None } as a wildcard
+    pub fn matches(&self, filter: &ConnectionMode) -> bool {
+        match (self, filter) {
+            (ConnectionMode::Http, ConnectionMode::Http) => true,
+            (ConnectionMode::Grpc { .. }, ConnectionMode::Grpc { port: None }) => true,
+            (ConnectionMode::Grpc { port: p1 }, ConnectionMode::Grpc { port: p2 }) => p1 == p2,
+            _ => false,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl fmt::Display for ConnectionMode {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
         match self {
diff --git a/sgl-router/src/core/worker_registry.rs b/sgl-router/src/core/worker_registry.rs
index e4d65a491..0e58681e6 100644
--- a/sgl-router/src/core/worker_registry.rs
+++ b/sgl-router/src/core/worker_registry.rs
@@ -308,9 +308,9 @@ impl WorkerRegistry {
                     }
                 }
 
-                // Check connection_mode if specified
+                // Check connection_mode if specified (using matches for flexible gRPC matching)
                 if let Some(ref conn) = connection_mode {
-                    if w.connection_mode() != *conn {
+                    if !w.connection_mode().matches(conn) {
                         return false;
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/sgl-router/src/routers/grpc/pipeline.rs b/sgl-router/src/routers/grpc/pipeline.rs
index dc595f673..9b21a8281 100644
--- a/sgl-router/src/routers/grpc/pipeline.rs
+++ b/sgl-router/src/routers/grpc/pipeline.rs
@@ -340,45 +340,32 @@ impl WorkerSelectionStage {
         model_id: Option<&str>,
         text: Option<&str>,
     ) -> Option<(Arc<dyn Worker>, Arc<dyn Worker>)> {
-        // Get prefill workers - use None for WorkerType filter to get all types,
-        // then filter manually (since Prefill is a struct variant)
         let all_workers = self.worker_registry.get_workers_filtered(
             model_id,
-            None, // Get all types
-            Some(ConnectionMode::Grpc { port: None }),
+            None,
+            Some(ConnectionMode::Grpc { port: None }), // Match any gRPC worker
             false,
         );
 
-        let prefill_workers: Vec<_> = all_workers
-            .iter()
-            .filter(|w| matches!(w.metadata().worker_type, WorkerType::Prefill { .. }))
-            .cloned()
-            .collect();
-
-        let available_prefill: Vec<_> = prefill_workers
-            .iter()
-            .filter(|w| w.is_available())
-            .cloned()
-            .collect();
+        let (available_prefill, available_decode): (Vec<_>, Vec<_>) =
+            all_workers
+                .into_iter()
+                .fold((Vec::new(), Vec::new()), |mut acc, w| {
+                    if w.is_available() {
+                        match w.metadata().worker_type {
+                            WorkerType::Prefill { .. } => acc.0.push(w),
+                            WorkerType::Decode => acc.1.push(w),
+                            _ => {}
+                        }
+                    }
+                    acc
+                });
 
         if available_prefill.is_empty() {
             warn!("No available prefill workers");
             return None;
         }
 
-        // Get decode workers from the same all_workers list
-        let decode_workers: Vec<_> = all_workers
-            .iter()
-            .filter(|w| matches!(w.metadata().worker_type, WorkerType::Decode))
-            .cloned()
-            .collect();
-
-        let available_decode: Vec<_> = decode_workers
-            .iter()
-            .filter(|w| w.is_available())
-            .cloned()
-            .collect();
-
         if available_decode.is_empty() {
             warn!("No available decode workers");
             return None;