diff --git a/client/patchman-client b/client/patchman-client
index cbec7268..9e8615bb 100755
--- a/client/patchman-client
+++ b/client/patchman-client
@@ -948,7 +948,7 @@ build_json_report() {
     # Convert tags to JSON array
     local tags_json="[]"
     if [ ! -z "${tags}" ] && [ "${tags}" != "Default" ] ; then
-        tags_json=$(echo "${tags}" | tr ',' '\n' | jq -R . | jq -s .)
+        tags_json=$(echo "${tags}" | jq -R 'if test(",") then split(",") else [splits("\\s+")] end | map(gsub("^\\s+|\\s+$"; "")) | map(select(length > 0))')
     fi
 
     # Convert reboot to boolean
diff --git a/client/patchman-client.conf b/client/patchman-client.conf
index 666dd54c..483d9a3d 100644
--- a/client/patchman-client.conf
+++ b/client/patchman-client.conf
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ server=https://patchman.example.com
 # Options to curl
 curl_options="--insecure --connect-timeout 60 --max-time 300"
 
-# Space delimited tags to send
+# Comma or space delimited tags to send
 tags="Server"
 
 # Does the client output a report of the upload (e.g. for cronjob output)
diff --git a/hosts/tests/test_utils.py b/hosts/tests/test_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c41c2890
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+# Copyright 2026 Marcus Furlong <furlongm@gmail.com>
+#
+# This file is part of Patchman.
+#
+# Patchman is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, version 3 only.
+#
+# Patchman is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Patchman. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>
+
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from django.test import TestCase
+
+from arch.models import MachineArchitecture
+from domains.models import Domain
+from hosts.utils import get_or_create_host
+from operatingsystems.models import OSRelease, OSVariant
+from reports.models import Report
+
+
+@patch('hosts.models.Host.check_rdns')
+class GetOrCreateHostTagTests(TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.arch = MachineArchitecture.objects.create(name='x86_64')
+        self.domain = Domain.objects.create(name='example.com')
+        self.osvariant = OSVariant.objects.create(
+            name='Debian 13', osrelease=OSRelease.objects.create(name='Debian 13'),
+        )
+
+    def host_tags(self, protocol, tags):
+        report = Report.objects.create(
+            host='tags.example.com', report_ip='192.168.1.10', os='Debian 13',
+            kernel='6.12.57+deb13-amd64', arch='x86_64', protocol=protocol, tags=tags,
+        )
+        host = get_or_create_host(report, self.arch, self.osvariant, self.domain)
+        return sorted(host.tags.names())
+
+    def test_protocol1_space_delimited(self, _):
+        self.assertEqual(self.host_tags('1', 'web prod'), ['prod', 'web'])
+
+    def test_protocol1_comma_delimited(self, _):
+        self.assertEqual(self.host_tags('1', 'web, prod'), ['prod', 'web'])
+
+    def test_protocol2_keeps_spaces_within_tags(self, _):
+        self.assertEqual(self.host_tags('2', 'my tag, web'), ['my tag', 'web'])
+
+    def test_protocol2_empty_tags(self, _):
+        self.assertEqual(self.host_tags('2', ''), [])
diff --git a/hosts/utils.py b/hosts/utils.py
index bf6a1215..9e618c4e 100644
--- a/hosts/utils.py
+++ b/hosts/utils.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 from django.db import IntegrityError, transaction
 from taggit.models import Tag
+from taggit.utils import parse_tags
 
 from util import get_datetime_now
 from util.logging import error_message, info_message
@@ -36,6 +37,15 @@ def update_rdns(host):
     host.save()
 
 
+def get_report_tags(report):
+    """ Protocol 2 sends a list (stored comma-joined), protocol 1 sends the
+        raw config string, which may be comma or space delimited
+    """
+    if report.protocol == '2':
+        return [t.strip() for t in (report.tags or '').split(',') if t.strip()]
+    return parse_tags(report.tags or '')
+
+
 def get_or_create_host(report, arch, osvariant, domain):
     """ Get or create a host from from a report
     """
@@ -65,7 +75,7 @@ def get_or_create_host(report, arch, osvariant, domain):
             host.osvariant = osvariant
             host.domain = domain
             host.lastreport = report.created
-            host.tags.set(report.tags.split(','), clear=True)
+            host.tags.set(get_report_tags(report), clear=True)
             if report.reboot == 'True':
                 host.reboot_required = True
             else: