diff --git a/src/services/notes.js b/src/services/notes.js
index e5634df..653af57 100644
--- a/src/services/notes.js
+++ b/src/services/notes.js
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export function updateNote(ownerId, id, input) {
   const patch = {};
   if (input.title !== undefined) patch.title = requireString(input, 'title', { max: 120 });
   if (input.body !== undefined) patch.body = requireString(input, 'body', { max: 10000 });
-  if (input.tags !== undefined) patch.tags = input.tags && optionalTags(input);
+  if (input.tags !== undefined) patch.tags = optionalTags(input);
   invalidate(`notes:${ownerId}`);
   record(ownerId, 'note.update', id);
   return update('notes', id, patch);
diff --git a/src/services/tags.js b/src/services/tags.js
index a5a9ea2..d10f50e 100644
--- a/src/services/tags.js
+++ b/src/services/tags.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ export function tagCounts(ownerId) {
     const counts = {};
     for (const note of all('notes')) {
       if (note.ownerId !== ownerId) continue;
-      for (const tag of note.tags) counts[tag] = (counts[tag] ?? 0) + 1;
+      for (const tag of note.tags ?? []) counts[tag] = (counts[tag] ?? 0) + 1;
     }
     return counts;
   });
diff --git a/src/utils/format.js b/src/utils/format.js
index 24a3a09..230cc5d 100644
--- a/src/utils/format.js
+++ b/src/utils/format.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export function noteSummary(note) {
     title: note.title,
     preview: truncate(note.body, 40),
     created: formatDate(note.createdAt),
-    tags: [...note.tags].sort(),
+    tags: [...(note.tags ?? [])].sort(),
   };
 }