diff --git a/notmuch-tag.c b/notmuch-tag.c
index 205f2733..464874b4 100644
--- a/notmuch-tag.c
+++ b/notmuch-tag.c
@@ -187,11 +187,10 @@ tag_file (void *ctx, notmuch_database_t *notmuch, tag_op_flag_t flags,
 }
 
 int
-notmuch_tag_command (notmuch_config_t *config, unused(notmuch_database_t *notmuch), int argc, char *argv[])
+notmuch_tag_command (unused(notmuch_config_t *config), notmuch_database_t *notmuch, int argc, char *argv[])
 {
     tag_op_list_t *tag_ops = NULL;
     char *query_string = NULL;
-    notmuch_database_t *notmuch;
     struct sigaction action;
     tag_op_flag_t tag_flags = TAG_FLAG_NONE;
     bool batch = false;
@@ -200,6 +199,7 @@ notmuch_tag_command (notmuch_config_t *config, unused(notmuch_database_t *notmuc
     const char *input_file_name = NULL;
     int opt_index;
     int ret;
+    notmuch_bool_t synchronize_flags;
 
     /* Set up our handler for SIGINT */
     memset (&action, 0, sizeof (struct sigaction));
@@ -240,13 +240,13 @@ notmuch_tag_command (notmuch_config_t *config, unused(notmuch_database_t *notmuc
 	    return EXIT_FAILURE;
 	}
     } else {
-	tag_ops = tag_op_list_create (config);
+	tag_ops = tag_op_list_create (notmuch);
 	if (tag_ops == NULL) {
 	    fprintf (stderr, "Out of memory.\n");
 	    return EXIT_FAILURE;
 	}
 
-	if (parse_tag_command_line (config, argc - opt_index, argv + opt_index,
+	if (parse_tag_command_line (notmuch, argc - opt_index, argv + opt_index,
 				    &query_string, tag_ops))
 	    return EXIT_FAILURE;
 
@@ -261,22 +261,25 @@ notmuch_tag_command (notmuch_config_t *config, unused(notmuch_database_t *notmuc
 	}
     }
 
-    if (notmuch_database_open (notmuch_config_get_database_path (config),
-			       NOTMUCH_DATABASE_MODE_READ_WRITE, &notmuch))
-	return EXIT_FAILURE;
-
     notmuch_exit_if_unmatched_db_uuid (notmuch);
 
-    if (notmuch_config_get_maildir_synchronize_flags (config))
+    if (print_status_database (
+	    "notmuch restore",
+	    notmuch,
+	    notmuch_config_get_bool (notmuch, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_SYNC_MAILDIR_FLAGS,
+				     &synchronize_flags)))
+	return EXIT_FAILURE;
+
+    if (synchronize_flags)
 	tag_flags |= TAG_FLAG_MAILDIR_SYNC;
 
     if (remove_all)
 	tag_flags |= TAG_FLAG_REMOVE_ALL;
 
     if (batch)
-	ret = tag_file (config, notmuch, tag_flags, input);
+	ret = tag_file (notmuch, notmuch, tag_flags, input);
     else
-	ret = tag_query (config, notmuch, query_string, tag_ops, tag_flags);
+	ret = tag_query (notmuch, notmuch, query_string, tag_ops, tag_flags);
 
     notmuch_database_destroy (notmuch);
 
diff --git a/notmuch.c b/notmuch.c
index 16504fc5..913fd312 100644
--- a/notmuch.c
+++ b/notmuch.c
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ static command_t commands[] = {
       "Count messages matching the search terms." },
     { "reply", notmuch_reply_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_EARLY,
       "Construct a reply template for a set of messages." },
-    { "tag", notmuch_tag_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_OPEN,
+    { "tag", notmuch_tag_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_EARLY | NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_WRITE,
       "Add/remove tags for all messages matching the search terms." },
     { "dump", notmuch_dump_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_EARLY | NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_WRITE,
       "Create a plain-text dump of the tags for each message." },
diff --git a/test/T035-read-config.sh b/test/T035-read-config.sh
index d015e073..6dc7ccbb 100755
--- a/test/T035-read-config.sh
+++ b/test/T035-read-config.sh
@@ -399,4 +399,52 @@ restore_database
 restore_config
 test_expect_equal "$output" "OK"
 
+# reset to known state
+add_email_corpus
+
+test_begin_subtest "tag with saved query from config file"
+backup_config
+query_name="test${RANDOM}"
+tag_name="tag${RANDOM}"
+notmuch count query:$query_name > OUTPUT
+printf "\n[query]\n${query_name} = tag:inbox\n" >> notmuch-config
+notmuch tag +$tag_name -- query:${query_name}
+notmuch count tag:$tag_name >> OUTPUT
+cat <<EOF > EXPECTED
+0
+52
+EOF
+restore_config
+test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
+
+test_begin_subtest "tag with saved query from config file (xdg)"
+xdg_config
+query_name="test${RANDOM}"
+tag_name="tag${RANDOM}"
+notmuch count query:$query_name > OUTPUT
+printf "\n[query]\n${query_name} = tag:inbox\n" >> ${CONFIG_PATH}
+notmuch tag +$tag_name -- query:${query_name}
+notmuch count tag:$tag_name >> OUTPUT
+cat <<EOF > EXPECTED
+0
+52
+EOF
+restore_config
+test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
+
+test_begin_subtest "tag with saved query from config file (xdg+profile)"
+query_name="test${RANDOM}"
+xdg_config ${query_name}
+tag_name="tag${RANDOM}"
+notmuch count query:$query_name > OUTPUT
+printf "\n[query]\n${query_name} = tag:inbox\n" >> ${CONFIG_PATH}
+notmuch tag +$tag_name -- query:${query_name}
+notmuch count tag:$tag_name >> OUTPUT
+cat <<EOF > EXPECTED
+0
+52
+EOF
+restore_config
+test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
+
 test_done