diff --git a/GeneratorInterface/Core/interface/EmbeddingHepMCFilter.h b/GeneratorInterface/Core/interface/EmbeddingHepMCFilter.h
index 3603526d9726c..2ce970a6e1ea1 100644
--- a/GeneratorInterface/Core/interface/EmbeddingHepMCFilter.h
+++ b/GeneratorInterface/Core/interface/EmbeddingHepMCFilter.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class EmbeddingHepMCFilter : public BaseHepMCFilter {
   const int muonPDGID_ = 13;
   const int electron_neutrino_PDGID_ = 12;
   const int electronPDGID_ = 11;
-  const int ZPDGID_ = 23;
+  int ZPDGID_ = 23;
 
   enum class TauDecayMode : int { Unfilled = -1, Muon = 0, Electron = 1, Hadronic = 2 };
 
diff --git a/GeneratorInterface/Core/src/EmbeddingHepMCFilter.cc b/GeneratorInterface/Core/src/EmbeddingHepMCFilter.cc
index 455f8cd5b0c62..499ae555ac108 100644
--- a/GeneratorInterface/Core/src/EmbeddingHepMCFilter.cc
+++ b/GeneratorInterface/Core/src/EmbeddingHepMCFilter.cc
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 #include "boost/algorithm/string.hpp"
 #include "boost/algorithm/string/trim_all.hpp"
 
-EmbeddingHepMCFilter::EmbeddingHepMCFilter(const edm::ParameterSet &iConfig) {
+EmbeddingHepMCFilter::EmbeddingHepMCFilter(const edm::ParameterSet &iConfig)
+    : ZPDGID_(iConfig.getParameter<int>("BosonPDGID")) {
   // Defining standard decay channels
   ee.fill(TauDecayMode::Electron);
   ee.fill(TauDecayMode::Electron);
@@ -118,13 +119,16 @@ void EmbeddingHepMCFilter::decay_and_sump4Vis(HepMC::GenParticle *particle, reco
     // Asuming, that there are only the two tauons from the Z-boson.
     // This is the case for the simulated Z->tautau event constructed by EmbeddingLHEProducer.
     if (std::abs(particle->pdg_id()) == tauonPDGID_ && !decaymode_known) {
+      // use these bools to protect againt taus that aren't the last copy (which "decay" to a tau and a gamma)
+      bool isGamma = std::abs((*daughter)->pdg_id()) == 22;
+      bool isTau = std::abs((*daughter)->pdg_id()) == 15;
       if (std::abs((*daughter)->pdg_id()) == muonPDGID_) {
         DecayChannel_.fill(TauDecayMode::Muon);
         decaymode_known = true;
       } else if (std::abs((*daughter)->pdg_id()) == electronPDGID_) {
         DecayChannel_.fill(TauDecayMode::Electron);
         decaymode_known = true;
-      } else if (!neutrino) {
+      } else if (!neutrino && !isGamma && !isTau) {
         DecayChannel_.fill(TauDecayMode::Hadronic);
         decaymode_known = true;
       }
@@ -229,4 +233,4 @@ void EmbeddingHepMCFilter::fill_cut(std::string cut_string,
       cut.eta2 = std::stod(single_cuts[i]);
     }
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/TauAnalysis/MCEmbeddingTools/python/EmbeddingPythia8Hadronizer_cfi.py b/TauAnalysis/MCEmbeddingTools/python/EmbeddingPythia8Hadronizer_cfi.py
index a34664e5362e1..5c056288c8203 100644
--- a/TauAnalysis/MCEmbeddingTools/python/EmbeddingPythia8Hadronizer_cfi.py
+++ b/TauAnalysis/MCEmbeddingTools/python/EmbeddingPythia8Hadronizer_cfi.py
@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@
             HadHadCut = cms.string('Had1.Pt > 35 && Had2.Pt > 30'),
             MuHadCut = cms.string('Mu.Pt > 18 && Had.Pt > 25 && Mu.Eta < 2.1'),
             MuMuCut = cms.string('Mu1.Pt > 17 && Mu2.Pt > 8'),
-            Final_States = cms.vstring('ElEl','ElHad','ElMu','HadHad','MuHad','MuMu')
-    )
+            Final_States = cms.vstring('ElEl','ElHad','ElMu','HadHad','MuHad','MuMu'),
+            BosonPDGID = cms.int32(23)
+    ),
   ),
   pythiaPylistVerbosity = cms.untracked.int32(0),
   filterEfficiency = cms.untracked.double(1.0),