diff --git a/src/CLI.cpp b/src/CLI.cpp
index 0e08c339e..ba896584f 100644
--- a/src/CLI.cpp
+++ b/src/CLI.cpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include <cmake.h>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <Context.h>
+#include <Nibbler.h>
 #include <Lexer.h>
 #include <CLI.h>
 #include <Color.h>
@@ -307,6 +308,36 @@ bool CLI::canonicalize (
   return false;
 }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// +tag --> tags _hastag_ tag
+// -tag --> tags _notag_ tag
+void CLI::unsweetenTags ()
+{
+  std::vector <std::string> reconstructed;
+
+  std::vector <std::string>::iterator i;
+  for (i = _filter.begin (); i != _filter.end (); ++i)
+  {
+    Nibbler n (*i);
+    std::string tag;
+    std::string sign;
+
+    if (n.getN (1, sign)             &&
+        (sign == "+" || sign == "-") &&
+        n.getUntilEOS (tag)          &&
+        tag.find (' ') == std::string::npos)
+    {
+        reconstructed.push_back ("tags");
+        reconstructed.push_back (sign == "+" ? "_hastag_" : "_notag_");
+        reconstructed.push_back (tag);
+    }
+    else
+      reconstructed.push_back (*i);
+  }
+
+  _filter = reconstructed;
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 void CLI::dump (const std::string& label) const
 {
diff --git a/src/CLI.h b/src/CLI.h
index a61aa4144..35828c7ee 100644
--- a/src/CLI.h
+++ b/src/CLI.h
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ private:
   void categorize ();
   bool exactMatch (const std::string&, const std::string&) const;
   bool canonicalize (std::string&, const std::string&, const std::string&) const;
+  void unsweetenTags ();
   void dump (const std::string&) const;
 
 public: