diff --git a/filter-injector.lua b/filter-injector.lua
index e605c9e..21b3aca 100644
--- a/filter-injector.lua
+++ b/filter-injector.lua
@@ -201,10 +201,12 @@ local function punch_filter(data, filtpos, filtnode, msg)
 				set_filter_formspec(data, filtmeta)
 			end
 
-			if type(msg.tags) == "table" or type(msg.tags) == "string" then
-				item_tags = pipeworks.sanitize_tags(msg.tags)
-			elseif type(msg.tag) == "string" then
-				item_tags = pipeworks.sanitize_tags({msg.tag})
+			if pipeworks.enable_item_tags then
+				if type(msg.tags) == "table" or type(msg.tags) == "string" then
+					item_tags = pipeworks.sanitize_tags(msg.tags)
+				elseif type(msg.tag) == "string" then
+					item_tags = pipeworks.sanitize_tags({msg.tag})
+				end
 			end
 
 			if msg.nofire then