diff --git a/plugins/tags/subcommands/deploy b/plugins/tags/subcommands/deploy
index ebd6ec1ac..35c573595 100755
--- a/plugins/tags/subcommands/deploy
+++ b/plugins/tags/subcommands/deploy
@@ -6,11 +6,14 @@ source "$PLUGIN_AVAILABLE_PATH/tags/functions"
 tags_deploy_cmd() {
   declare desc="deploys an app with a given tagged image via command line"
   local cmd="tags:deploy"
-  [[ -z $2 ]] && dokku_log_fail "Please specify an app to run the command on"
-  local APP="$2"; local IMAGE_TAG="$3"
+  declare APP="$2" IMAGE_TAG="$3"
+  local IMAGE
+  [[ -z "$APP" ]] && dokku_log_fail "Please specify an app to run the command on"
   verify_app_name "$APP"
 
-  release_and_deploy "$APP" "$IMAGE_TAG"
+  IMAGE="$(get_app_image_name "$APP" "$IMAGE_TAG")"
+  verify_image "$IMAGE" || return 1
+  release_and_deploy "$APP" "$IMAGE_TAG"  
 }
 
 tags_deploy_cmd "$@"
diff --git a/tests/unit/40_tags.bats b/tests/unit/40_tags.bats
index dc6b1568f..a59cbb36b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/40_tags.bats
+++ b/tests/unit/40_tags.bats
@@ -46,3 +46,10 @@ teardown() {
   echo "status: "$status
   assert_success
 }
+
+@test "(tags) tags:deploy (missing tag)" {
+  run /bin/bash -c "dokku tags:deploy $TEST_APP missing-tag"
+  echo "output: "$output
+  echo "status: "$status
+  assert_failure
+}