diff --git a/backend-shared/exportfuncs.cpp b/backend-shared/exportfuncs.cpp
index 850d75c81..846530499 100644
--- a/backend-shared/exportfuncs.cpp
+++ b/backend-shared/exportfuncs.cpp
@@ -191,14 +191,8 @@ void export_TeX(const char *filename, bool selected_only, bool plain, ExportCall
 		dive->maxdepth.mm ? put_format(&buf, "\\def\\%smaximumdepth{%.1f\\%sdepthunit}\n", ssrf, get_depth_units(dive->maxdepth.mm, NULL, &unit), ssrf) : put_format(&buf, "\\def\\%smaximumdepth{}\n", ssrf);
 		dive->meandepth.mm ? put_format(&buf, "\\def\\%smeandepth{%.1f\\%sdepthunit}\n", ssrf, get_depth_units(dive->meandepth.mm, NULL, &unit), ssrf) : put_format(&buf, "\\def\\%smeandepth{}\n", ssrf);
 
-		struct tag_entry *tag = dive->tag_list;
-		QString tags;
-		if (tag) {
-			tags = tag->tag->name;
-			while ((tag = tag->next))
-				tags += QString(", ") + QString(tag->tag->name);
-		}
-		put_format(&buf, "\\def\\%stype{%s}\n", ssrf, qPrintable(tags));
+		std::string tags = taglist_get_tagstring(dive->tag_list);
+		put_format(&buf, "\\def\\%stype{%s}\n", ssrf, tags.c_str());
 		put_format(&buf, "\\def\\%sviz{%s}\n", ssrf, qPrintable(viz));
 		put_format(&buf, "\\def\\%srating{%s}\n", ssrf, qPrintable(rating));
 		put_format(&buf, "\\def\\%splot{\\includegraphics[width=9cm,height=4cm]{profile%d}}\n", ssrf, dive->number);
diff --git a/commands/command_edit.cpp b/commands/command_edit.cpp
index 2a5512e92..d8caf5408 100644
--- a/commands/command_edit.cpp
+++ b/commands/command_edit.cpp
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@ QStringList EditTags::data(struct dive *d) const
 {
 	QStringList res;
 	for (const struct tag_entry *tag = d->tag_list; tag; tag = tag->next)
-		res.push_back(tag->tag->name);
+		res.push_back(QString::fromStdString(tag->tag->name));
 	return res;
 }
 
@@ -1426,7 +1426,7 @@ EditDive::EditDive(dive *oldDiveIn, dive *newDiveIn, dive_site *createDs, dive_s
 		changedFields |= DiveField::CHILL;
 	if (!same_string(oldDive->suit, newDive->suit))
 		changedFields |= DiveField::SUIT;
-	if (get_taglist_string(oldDive->tag_list) != get_taglist_string(newDive->tag_list)) // This is cheating. Do we have a taglist comparison function?
+	if (taglist_get_tagstring(oldDive->tag_list) != taglist_get_tagstring(newDive->tag_list)) // This is cheating. Do we have a taglist comparison function?
 		changedFields |= DiveField::TAGS;
 	if (oldDive->dc.divemode != newDive->dc.divemode)
 		changedFields |= DiveField::MODE;
diff --git a/core/datatrak.cpp b/core/datatrak.cpp
index 72d49cb89..d2fcdd1f5 100644
--- a/core/datatrak.cpp
+++ b/core/datatrak.cpp
@@ -721,7 +721,6 @@ int datatrak_import(std::string &mem, std::string &wl_mem, struct divelog *log)
 		i++;
 	}
 out:
-	taglist_cleanup(&g_tag_list);
 	sort_dive_table(log->dives);
 	return rc;
 bail:
diff --git a/core/filterconstraint.cpp b/core/filterconstraint.cpp
index b77f76054..097adf4cb 100644
--- a/core/filterconstraint.cpp
+++ b/core/filterconstraint.cpp
@@ -819,7 +819,7 @@ static bool has_tags(const filter_constraint &c, const struct dive *d)
 {
 	QStringList dive_tags;
 	for (const tag_entry *tag = d->tag_list; tag; tag = tag->next)
-		dive_tags.push_back(QString(tag->tag->name).trimmed());
+		dive_tags.push_back(QString::fromStdString(tag->tag->name).trimmed());
 	dive_tags.append(gettextFromC::tr(divemode_text_ui[d->dc.divemode]).trimmed());
 	return check(c, dive_tags);
 }
diff --git a/core/fulltext.cpp b/core/fulltext.cpp
index 09af5b7ac..8a9c956d7 100644
--- a/core/fulltext.cpp
+++ b/core/fulltext.cpp
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ static std::vector<QString> getWords(const dive *d)
 	tokenize(QString(d->buddy), res);
 	tokenize(QString(d->suit), res);
 	for (const tag_entry *tag = d->tag_list; tag; tag = tag->next)
-		tokenize(QString(tag->tag->name), res);
+		tokenize(QString::fromStdString(tag->tag->name), res);
 	for (int i = 0; i < d->cylinders.nr; ++i) {
 		const cylinder_t &cyl = *get_cylinder(d, i);
 		tokenize(QString(cyl.type.description), res);
diff --git a/core/qthelper.cpp b/core/qthelper.cpp
index c9d2c1f53..758a2d082 100644
--- a/core/qthelper.cpp
+++ b/core/qthelper.cpp
@@ -1229,12 +1229,6 @@ QStringList get_dive_gas_list(const struct dive *d)
 	return list;
 }
 
-QString get_taglist_string(struct tag_entry *tag_list)
-{
-	std::string tags = taglist_get_tagstring(tag_list);
-	return QString::fromStdString(tags);
-}
-
 QStringList stringToList(const QString &s)
 {
 	QStringList res = s.split(",", SKIP_EMPTY);
diff --git a/core/qthelper.h b/core/qthelper.h
index ef1b4f337..6bc89a11c 100644
--- a/core/qthelper.h
+++ b/core/qthelper.h
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ QString distance_string(int distanceInMeters);
 bool gpsHasChanged(struct dive *dive, struct dive *master, const QString &gps_text, bool *parsed_out = 0);
 QString get_gas_string(struct gasmix gas);
 QStringList get_dive_gas_list(const struct dive *d);
-QString get_taglist_string(struct tag_entry *tag_list);
 QStringList stringToList(const QString &s);
 void read_hashes();
 void write_hashes();
diff --git a/core/save-git.cpp b/core/save-git.cpp
index 9b7734544..05ced734d 100644
--- a/core/save-git.cpp
+++ b/core/save-git.cpp
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ static void save_tags(struct membuffer *b, struct tag_entry *tags)
 		return;
 	put_string(b, "tags");
 	while (tags) {
-		show_utf8(b, sep, tags->tag->source ? : tags->tag->name, "");
+		show_utf8(b, sep, tags->tag->source.empty() ? tags->tag->name.c_str() : tags->tag->source.c_str(), "");
 		sep = ", ";
 		tags = tags->next;
 	}
diff --git a/core/save-html.cpp b/core/save-html.cpp
index eaa3f9103..b693df9b6 100644
--- a/core/save-html.cpp
+++ b/core/save-html.cpp
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ static void put_HTML_tags(struct membuffer *b, struct dive *dive, const char *pr
 	while (tag) {
 		put_format(b, "%s\"", separator);
 		separator = ", ";
-		put_HTML_quoted(b, tag->tag->name);
+		put_HTML_quoted(b, tag->tag->name.c_str());
 		put_string(b, "\"");
 		tag = tag->next;
 	}
diff --git a/core/save-xml.cpp b/core/save-xml.cpp
index 91782cd55..d0d095f94 100644
--- a/core/save-xml.cpp
+++ b/core/save-xml.cpp
@@ -387,10 +387,10 @@ static void save_tags(struct membuffer *b, struct tag_entry *entry)
 	if (entry) {
 		const char *sep = " tags='";
 		do {
-			struct divetag *tag = entry->tag;
+			const struct divetag *tag = entry->tag;
 			put_string(b, sep);
 			/* If the tag has been translated, write the source to the xml file */
-			quote(b, tag->source ?: tag->name, 1);
+			quote(b, tag->source.empty() ? tag->name.c_str() : tag->source.c_str(), 1);
 			sep = ", ";
 		} while ((entry = entry->next) != NULL);
 		put_string(b, "'");
diff --git a/core/tag.cpp b/core/tag.cpp
index 2b55048b6..3dca51b2e 100644
--- a/core/tag.cpp
+++ b/core/tag.cpp
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@
 #include "gettext.h"
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <QtGlobal> // for QT_TRANSLATE_NOOP
 
-struct tag_entry *g_tag_list = NULL;
+std::vector<std::unique_ptr<divetag>> g_tag_list;
 
 static const char *default_tags[] = {
 	QT_TRANSLATE_NOOP("gettextFromC", "boat"), QT_TRANSLATE_NOOP("gettextFromC", "shore"), QT_TRANSLATE_NOOP("gettextFromC", "drift"),
@@ -24,15 +25,13 @@ static const char *default_tags[] = {
 /* copy an element in a list of tags */
 static void copy_tl(struct tag_entry *st, struct tag_entry *dt)
 {
-	dt->tag = (divetag *)malloc(sizeof(struct divetag));
-	dt->tag->name = copy_string(st->tag->name);
-	dt->tag->source = copy_string(st->tag->source);
+	dt->tag = st->tag;
 }
 
 static bool tag_seen_before(struct tag_entry *start, struct tag_entry *before)
 {
 	while (start && start != before) {
-		if (same_string(start->tag->name, before->tag->name))
+		if (start->tag->name == before->tag->name)
 			return true;
 		start = start->next;
 	}
@@ -45,7 +44,7 @@ extern "C" void taglist_cleanup(struct tag_entry **tag_list)
 	struct tag_entry **tl = tag_list;
 	while (*tl) {
 		/* skip tags that are empty or that we have seen before */
-		if (empty_string((*tl)->tag->name) || tag_seen_before(*tag_list, *tl)) {
+		if ((*tl)->tag->name.empty() || tag_seen_before(*tag_list, *tl)) {
 			*tl = (*tl)->next;
 			continue;
 		}
@@ -57,39 +56,28 @@ std::string taglist_get_tagstring(struct tag_entry *tag_list)
 {
 	bool first_tag = true;
 	std::string res;
-	struct tag_entry *tmp = tag_list;
-	while (tmp != NULL) {
-		if (!empty_string(tmp->tag->name)) {
-			if (!first_tag)
-				res += ", ";
-			res += tmp->tag->name;
-			first_tag = false;
-		}
-		tmp = tmp->next;
+	for (struct tag_entry *tmp = tag_list; tmp != NULL; tmp = tmp->next) {
+		if (tmp->tag->name.empty())
+			continue;
+		if (!first_tag)
+			res += ", ";
+		res += tmp->tag->name;
+		first_tag = false;
 	}
-	return strdup(res.c_str());
-}
-
-static inline void taglist_free_divetag(struct divetag *tag)
-{
-	if (tag->name != NULL)
-		free(tag->name);
-	if (tag->source != NULL)
-		free(tag->source);
-	free(tag);
+	return res;
 }
 
 /* Add a tag to the tag_list, keep the list sorted */
-static struct divetag *taglist_add_divetag(struct tag_entry **tag_list, struct divetag *tag)
+static void taglist_add_divetag(struct tag_entry **tag_list, const struct divetag *tag)
 {
 	struct tag_entry *next, *entry;
 
 	while ((next = *tag_list) != NULL) {
-		int cmp = strcmp(next->tag->name, tag->name);
+		int cmp = next->tag->name.compare(tag->name);
 
 		/* Already have it? */
 		if (!cmp)
-			return next->tag;
+			return;
 		/* Is the entry larger? If so, insert here */
 		if (cmp > 0)
 			break;
@@ -102,48 +90,33 @@ static struct divetag *taglist_add_divetag(struct tag_entry **tag_list, struct d
 	entry->next = next;
 	entry->tag = tag;
 	*tag_list = entry;
-	return tag;
 }
 
-extern "C" struct divetag *taglist_add_tag(struct tag_entry **tag_list, const char *tag)
+static const divetag *register_tag(const char *s, const char *source)
 {
-	size_t i = 0;
-	int is_default_tag = 0;
-	struct divetag *ret_tag, *new_tag;
-	const char *translation;
-	new_tag = (divetag *)malloc(sizeof(struct divetag));
+	// binary search
+	auto it = std::lower_bound(g_tag_list.begin(), g_tag_list.end(), s,
+				   [](const std::unique_ptr<divetag> &tag, const char *s)
+				   { return tag->name < s; });
+	if (it == g_tag_list.end() || (*it)->name != s) {
+		std::string source_s = empty_string(source) ? std::string() : std::string(source);
+		it = g_tag_list.insert(it, std::make_unique<divetag>(s, source));
+	}
+	return it->get();
+}
+
+extern "C" void taglist_add_tag(struct tag_entry **tag_list, const char *tag)
+{
+	bool is_default_tag = std::find_if(std::begin(default_tags), std::end(default_tags),
+			[&tag] (const char *default_tag) { return tag == default_tag; });
 
-	for (i = 0; i < std::size(default_tags); i++) {
-		if (strcmp(default_tags[i], tag) == 0) {
-			is_default_tag = 1;
-			break;
-		}
-	}
 	/* Only translate default tags */
-	if (is_default_tag) {
-		translation = translate("gettextFromC", tag);
-		new_tag->name = (char *)malloc(strlen(translation) + 1);
-		memcpy(new_tag->name, translation, strlen(translation) + 1);
-		new_tag->source = (char *)malloc(strlen(tag) + 1);
-		memcpy(new_tag->source, tag, strlen(tag) + 1);
-	} else {
-		new_tag->source = NULL;
-		new_tag->name = (char *)malloc(strlen(tag) + 1);
-		memcpy(new_tag->name, tag, strlen(tag) + 1);
-	}
-	/* Try to insert new_tag into g_tag_list if we are not operating on it */
-	if (tag_list != &g_tag_list) {
-		ret_tag = taglist_add_divetag(&g_tag_list, new_tag);
-		/* g_tag_list already contains new_tag, free the duplicate */
-		if (ret_tag != new_tag)
-			taglist_free_divetag(new_tag);
-		ret_tag = taglist_add_divetag(tag_list, ret_tag);
-	} else {
-		ret_tag = taglist_add_divetag(tag_list, new_tag);
-		if (ret_tag != new_tag)
-			taglist_free_divetag(new_tag);
-	}
-	return ret_tag;
+	/* TODO: Do we really want to translate user-supplied tags if they happen to be known!? */
+	const char *translation = is_default_tag ? translate("gettextFromC", tag) : tag;
+	const char *source = is_default_tag ? tag : nullptr;
+	const struct divetag *d_tag = register_tag(translation, source);
+
+	taglist_add_divetag(tag_list, d_tag);
 }
 
 extern "C" void taglist_free(struct tag_entry *entry)
@@ -171,8 +144,6 @@ extern "C" void taglist_merge(struct tag_entry **dst, struct tag_entry *src1, st
 
 extern "C" void taglist_init_global()
 {
-	size_t i;
-
-	for (i = 0; i < std::size(default_tags); i++)
-		taglist_add_tag(&g_tag_list, default_tags[i]);
+	for (const char *s: default_tags)
+		register_tag(translate("gettextFromC", s), s);
 }
diff --git a/core/tag.h b/core/tag.h
index 8628e0d80..d7288804d 100644
--- a/core/tag.h
+++ b/core/tag.h
@@ -6,35 +6,37 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 struct divetag {
+#ifdef __cplusplus
 	/*
 	 * The name of the divetag. If a translation is available, name contains
 	 * the translated tag
 	 */
-	char *name;
+	std::string name;
 	/*
 	 * If a translation is available, we write the original tag to source.
 	 * This enables us to write a non-localized tag to the xml file.
 	 */
-	char *source;
+	std::string source;
+	divetag(const char *n, const char *s) : name(n), source(s)
+	{
+	}
+#endif
 };
 
 struct tag_entry {
-	struct divetag *tag;
+	const struct divetag *tag;
 	struct tag_entry *next;
 };
 
-/*
- * divetags are only stored once, each dive only contains
- * a list of tag_entries which then point to the divetags
- * in the global g_tag_list
- */
-extern struct tag_entry *g_tag_list;
-
-struct divetag *taglist_add_tag(struct tag_entry **tag_list, const char *tag);
+void taglist_add_tag(struct tag_entry **tag_list, const char *tag);
 
 /* cleans up a list: removes empty tags and duplicates */
 void taglist_cleanup(struct tag_entry **tag_list);
@@ -45,6 +47,21 @@ struct tag_entry *taglist_copy(struct tag_entry *s);
 void taglist_merge(struct tag_entry **dst, struct tag_entry *src1, struct tag_entry *src2);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
+
+/*
+ * divetags are only stored once, each dive only contains
+ * a list of tag_entries which then point to the divetags
+ * in the global g_tag_list
+ */
+extern std::vector<std::unique_ptr<divetag>> g_tag_list;
+
+/*
+ * Writes all divetags form tag_list into internally allocated buffer
+ * Function returns pointer to allocated buffer
+ * Buffer contains comma separated list of tags names or null terminated string
+ */
+extern std::string taglist_get_tagstring(struct tag_entry *tag_list);
+
 }
 
 // C++ only functions
diff --git a/desktop-widgets/simplewidgets.cpp b/desktop-widgets/simplewidgets.cpp
index 90657b282..ad06e84d9 100644
--- a/desktop-widgets/simplewidgets.cpp
+++ b/desktop-widgets/simplewidgets.cpp
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ void DiveComponentSelection::buttonClicked(QAbstractButton *button)
 			text << tr("Tags: ");
 			tag_entry *entry = current_dive->tag_list;
 			while (entry) {
-				text << entry->tag->name << " ";
+				text << entry->tag->name.c_str() << " ";
 				entry = entry->next;
 			}
 			text << "\n";
diff --git a/desktop-widgets/tab-widgets/TabDiveNotes.cpp b/desktop-widgets/tab-widgets/TabDiveNotes.cpp
index f96a76e4a..392a38a42 100644
--- a/desktop-widgets/tab-widgets/TabDiveNotes.cpp
+++ b/desktop-widgets/tab-widgets/TabDiveNotes.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "core/qthelper.h"
 #include "core/selection.h"
 #include "core/subsurface-string.h"
+#include "core/tag.h"
 #include "core/trip.h"
 #include "desktop-widgets/mainwindow.h"
 #include "desktop-widgets/mapwidget.h"
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ void TabDiveNotes::divesChanged(const QVector<dive *> &dives, DiveField field)
 	if (field.divesite)
 		updateDiveSite(currentDive);
 	if (field.tags)
-		ui.tagWidget->setText(get_taglist_string(currentDive->tag_list));
+		ui.tagWidget->setText(QString::fromStdString(taglist_get_tagstring(currentDive->tag_list)));
 	if (field.buddy)
 		ui.buddy->setText(currentDive->buddy);
 	if (field.diveguide)
@@ -252,7 +253,7 @@ void TabDiveNotes::updateData(const std::vector<dive *> &, dive *currentDive, in
 		// reset labels in case we last displayed trip notes
 		ui.LocationLabel->setText(tr("Location"));
 		ui.NotesLabel->setText(tr("Notes"));
-		ui.tagWidget->setText(get_taglist_string(currentDive->tag_list));
+		ui.tagWidget->setText(QString::fromStdString(taglist_get_tagstring(currentDive->tag_list)));
 		bool isManual = is_manually_added_dc(&currentDive->dc);
 		ui.depth->setVisible(isManual);
 		ui.depthLabel->setVisible(isManual);
diff --git a/desktop-widgets/templatelayout.cpp b/desktop-widgets/templatelayout.cpp
index 0c3cd3f91..5bae08e3b 100644
--- a/desktop-widgets/templatelayout.cpp
+++ b/desktop-widgets/templatelayout.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include "printoptions.h"
 #include "core/divelist.h"
 #include "core/selection.h"
+#include "core/tag.h"
 #include "core/qthelper.h"
 #include "core/string-format.h"
 
@@ -552,7 +553,7 @@ QVariant TemplateLayout::getValue(QString list, QString property, const State &s
 		} else if (property == "notes") {
 			return formatNotes(d);
 		} else if (property == "tags") {
-			return get_taglist_string(d->tag_list);
+			return QString::fromStdString(taglist_get_tagstring(d->tag_list));
 		} else if (property == "gas") {
 			return formatGas(d);
 		} else if (property == "sac") {
diff --git a/mobile-widgets/qmlmanager.cpp b/mobile-widgets/qmlmanager.cpp
index ad674ee12..f9f905815 100644
--- a/mobile-widgets/qmlmanager.cpp
+++ b/mobile-widgets/qmlmanager.cpp
@@ -1325,7 +1325,7 @@ void QMLManager::commitChanges(QString diveId, QString number, QString date, QSt
 	}
 	// normalize the tag list we have and the one we get from the UI
 	// try hard to deal with accidental white space issues
-	QStringList existingTagList = get_taglist_string(d->tag_list).split(",", SKIP_EMPTY);
+	QStringList existingTagList = QString::fromStdString(taglist_get_tagstring(d->tag_list)).split(",", SKIP_EMPTY);
 	QStringList newTagList = tags.split(",", SKIP_EMPTY);
 	QStringList newCleanTagList;
 	for (QString s: newTagList) {
diff --git a/qt-models/completionmodels.cpp b/qt-models/completionmodels.cpp
index 74adc28d0..3f5210b73 100644
--- a/qt-models/completionmodels.cpp
+++ b/qt-models/completionmodels.cpp
@@ -84,14 +84,9 @@ bool SuitCompletionModel::relevantDiveField(const DiveField &f)
 
 QStringList TagCompletionModel::getStrings()
 {
-	if (g_tag_list == NULL)
-		return {};
 	QStringList list;
-	struct tag_entry *current_tag_entry = g_tag_list;
-	while (current_tag_entry != NULL) {
-		list.append(QString(current_tag_entry->tag->name));
-		current_tag_entry = current_tag_entry->next;
-	}
+	for (const std::unique_ptr<divetag> &tag: g_tag_list)
+		list.append(QString::fromStdString(tag->name));
 	std::sort(list.begin(), list.end());
 	return list;
 }
diff --git a/qt-models/divetripmodel.cpp b/qt-models/divetripmodel.cpp
index 41f6a15d6..05353b7bf 100644
--- a/qt-models/divetripmodel.cpp
+++ b/qt-models/divetripmodel.cpp
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ QVariant DiveTripModelBase::diveData(const struct dive *d, int column, int role)
 	case MobileListModel::SumWeightRole: return formatSumWeight(d);
 	case MobileListModel::DiveGuideRole: return QString(d->diveguide);
 	case MobileListModel::BuddyRole: return QString(d->buddy);
-	case MobileListModel::TagsRole: return get_taglist_string(d->tag_list);
+	case MobileListModel::TagsRole: return QString::fromStdString(taglist_get_tagstring(d->tag_list));
 	case MobileListModel::NotesRole: return formatNotes(d);
 	case MobileListModel::GpsRole: return formatDiveGPS(d);
 	case MobileListModel::GpsDecimalRole: return format_gps_decimal(d);
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ QVariant DiveTripModelBase::diveData(const struct dive *d, int column, int role)
 			else
 				return d->maxcns;
 		case TAGS:
-			return get_taglist_string(d->tag_list);
+			return QString::fromStdString(taglist_get_tagstring(d->tag_list));
 		case PHOTOS:
 			break;
 		case COUNTRY:
diff --git a/stats/statsvariables.cpp b/stats/statsvariables.cpp
index bc08bfc5e..3f8bacd6f 100644
--- a/stats/statsvariables.cpp
+++ b/stats/statsvariables.cpp
@@ -1502,7 +1502,7 @@ struct TagBinner : public StringBinner<TagBinner, StringBin> {
 	std::vector<QString> to_bin_values(const dive *d) const {
 		std::vector<QString> tags;
 		for (const tag_entry *tag = d->tag_list; tag; tag = tag->next)
-			tags.push_back(QString(tag->tag->name).trimmed());
+			tags.push_back(QString::fromStdString(tag->tag->name).trimmed());
 		return tags;
 	}
 };
@@ -1513,7 +1513,7 @@ struct TagVariable : public StatsVariableTemplate<StatsVariable::Type::Discrete>
 		return StatsTranslations::tr("Tags");
 	}
 	QString diveCategories(const dive *d) const override {
-		return get_taglist_string(d->tag_list);
+		return QString::fromStdString(taglist_get_tagstring(d->tag_list));
 	}
 	std::vector<const StatsBinner *> binners() const override {
 		return { &tag_binner };
diff --git a/subsurface-desktop-main.cpp b/subsurface-desktop-main.cpp
index baf53aab6..d17ffb90c 100644
--- a/subsurface-desktop-main.cpp
+++ b/subsurface-desktop-main.cpp
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		run_ui();
 	exit_ui();
 	clear_divelog(&divelog);
-	taglist_free(g_tag_list);
 	parse_xml_exit();
 	subsurface_console_exit();
 
diff --git a/subsurface-downloader-main.cpp b/subsurface-downloader-main.cpp
index 2b4cea1e7..a480cc4b3 100644
--- a/subsurface-downloader-main.cpp
+++ b/subsurface-downloader-main.cpp
@@ -110,7 +110,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		printf("Give a log file name as argument, or configure a cloud URL.\n");
 	}
 	clear_divelog(&divelog);
-	taglist_free(g_tag_list);
 	parse_xml_exit();
 
 	// Sync struct preferences to disk
diff --git a/subsurface-mobile-main.cpp b/subsurface-mobile-main.cpp
index 020bf1f8a..813d448cc 100644
--- a/subsurface-mobile-main.cpp
+++ b/subsurface-mobile-main.cpp
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		run_mobile_ui(initial_font_size);
 	exit_ui();
 	clear_divelog(&divelog);
-	taglist_free(g_tag_list);
 	parse_xml_exit();
 	subsurface_console_exit();
 
diff --git a/tests/testtaglist.cpp b/tests/testtaglist.cpp
index 6d5410daf..dabcf351c 100644
--- a/tests/testtaglist.cpp
+++ b/tests/testtaglist.cpp
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ void TestTagList::initTestCase()
 
 void TestTagList::cleanupTestCase()
 {
-	taglist_free(g_tag_list);
-	g_tag_list = NULL;
+	g_tag_list.clear();
 }
 
 void TestTagList::testGetTagstringNoTags()