diff --git a/core/divesite-helper.cpp b/core/divesite-helper.cpp
index 55ebb3aba..bed0297ce 100644
--- a/core/divesite-helper.cpp
+++ b/core/divesite-helper.cpp
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@
 #include "pref.h"
 #include "gettextfromc.h"
 
-QString constructLocationTags(struct dive_site *ds, bool for_maintab)
+QString constructLocationTags(struct taxonomy_data *taxonomy, bool for_maintab)
 {
 	QString locationTag;
 
-	if (!ds || !ds->taxonomy.nr)
+	if (!taxonomy->nr)
 		return locationTag;
 
 	/* Check if the user set any of the 3 geocoding categories */
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ QString constructLocationTags(struct dive_site *ds, bool for_maintab)
 	for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
 		if (prefs.geocoding.category[i] == TC_NONE)
 			continue;
-		for (int j = 0; j < ds->taxonomy.nr; j++) {
-			if (ds->taxonomy.category[j].category == prefs.geocoding.category[i]) {
-				QString tag = ds->taxonomy.category[j].value;
+		for (int j = 0; j < taxonomy->nr; j++) {
+			if (taxonomy->category[j].category == prefs.geocoding.category[i]) {
+				QString tag = taxonomy->category[j].value;
 				if (!tag.isEmpty()) {
 					locationTag += connector + tag;
 					connector = " / ";
diff --git a/core/divesite.c b/core/divesite.c
index e84ec1dcc..f634044c2 100644
--- a/core/divesite.c
+++ b/core/divesite.c
@@ -249,26 +249,6 @@ bool dive_site_is_empty(struct dive_site *ds)
 	       ds->longitude.udeg == 0);
 }
 
-void copy_dive_site_taxonomy(struct dive_site *orig, struct dive_site *copy)
-{
-	if (orig->taxonomy.category == NULL) {
-		free_taxonomy(&copy->taxonomy);
-	} else {
-		if (copy->taxonomy.category == NULL)
-			copy->taxonomy.category = alloc_taxonomy();
-		for (int i = 0; i < TC_NR_CATEGORIES; i++) {
-			if (i < copy->taxonomy.nr) {
-				free((void *)copy->taxonomy.category[i].value);
-				copy->taxonomy.category[i].value = NULL;
-			}
-			if (i < orig->taxonomy.nr) {
-				copy->taxonomy.category[i] = orig->taxonomy.category[i];
-				copy->taxonomy.category[i].value = copy_string(orig->taxonomy.category[i].value);
-			}
-		}
-		copy->taxonomy.nr = orig->taxonomy.nr;
-	}
-}
 void copy_dive_site(struct dive_site *orig, struct dive_site *copy)
 {
 	free(copy->name);
@@ -281,7 +261,7 @@ void copy_dive_site(struct dive_site *orig, struct dive_site *copy)
 	copy->notes = copy_string(orig->notes);
 	copy->description = copy_string(orig->description);
 	copy->uuid = orig->uuid;
-	copy_dive_site_taxonomy(orig, copy);
+	copy_taxonomy(&orig->taxonomy, &copy->taxonomy);
 }
 
 static void merge_string(char **a, char **b)
diff --git a/core/divesite.h b/core/divesite.h
index 5b6943c73..b38ef5c28 100644
--- a/core/divesite.h
+++ b/core/divesite.h
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ void merge_dive_sites(uint32_t ref, uint32_t *uuids, int count);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
-QString constructLocationTags(struct dive_site *ds, bool for_maintab);
+QString constructLocationTags(struct taxonomy_data *taxonomy, bool for_maintab);
 
 #endif
 
diff --git a/core/taxonomy.c b/core/taxonomy.c
index 1689d1952..9592843f0 100644
--- a/core/taxonomy.c
+++ b/core/taxonomy.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
 #include "taxonomy.h"
 #include "gettext.h"
+#include "subsurface-string.h"
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 
@@ -41,6 +42,27 @@ void free_taxonomy(struct taxonomy_data *t)
 	}
 }
 
+void copy_taxonomy(struct taxonomy_data *orig, struct taxonomy_data *copy)
+{
+	if (orig->category == NULL) {
+		free_taxonomy(copy);
+	} else {
+		if (copy->category == NULL)
+			copy->category = alloc_taxonomy();
+		for (int i = 0; i < TC_NR_CATEGORIES; i++) {
+			if (i < copy->nr) {
+				free((void *)copy->category[i].value);
+				copy->category[i].value = NULL;
+			}
+			if (i < orig->nr) {
+				copy->category[i] = orig->category[i];
+				copy->category[i].value = copy_string(orig->category[i].value);
+			}
+		}
+		copy->nr = orig->nr;
+	}
+}
+
 int taxonomy_index_for_category(struct taxonomy_data *t, enum taxonomy_category cat)
 {
 	for (int i = 0; i < t->nr; i++)
diff --git a/core/taxonomy.h b/core/taxonomy.h
index 8c886c9ed..5f7f0cf43 100644
--- a/core/taxonomy.h
+++ b/core/taxonomy.h
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ struct taxonomy_data {
 
 struct taxonomy *alloc_taxonomy();
 void free_taxonomy(struct taxonomy_data *t);
+void copy_taxonomy(struct taxonomy_data *orig, struct taxonomy_data *copy);
 int taxonomy_index_for_category(struct taxonomy_data *t, enum taxonomy_category cat);
 const char *taxonomy_get_country(struct taxonomy_data *t);
 void taxonomy_set_country(struct taxonomy_data *t, const char *country, enum taxonomy_origin origin);
diff --git a/desktop-widgets/locationinformation.cpp b/desktop-widgets/locationinformation.cpp
index 30146b5be..e76a45091 100644
--- a/desktop-widgets/locationinformation.cpp
+++ b/desktop-widgets/locationinformation.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 LocationInformationWidget::LocationInformationWidget(QWidget *parent) : QGroupBox(parent), modified(false)
 {
 	memset(&displayed_dive_site, 0, sizeof(displayed_dive_site));
+	memset(&taxonomy, 0, sizeof(taxonomy));
 	ui.setupUi(this);
 	ui.diveSiteMessage->setCloseButtonVisible(false);
 
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@ void LocationInformationWidget::updateLabels()
 		ui.diveSiteName->setText(displayed_dive_site.name);
 	else
 		ui.diveSiteName->clear();
-	const char *country = taxonomy_get_country(&displayed_dive_site.taxonomy);
+	const char *country = taxonomy_get_country(&taxonomy);
 	if (country)
 		ui.diveSiteCountry->setText(country);
 	else
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ void LocationInformationWidget::updateLabels()
 		ui.diveSiteCoordinates->clear();
 	}
 
-	ui.locationTags->setText(constructLocationTags(&displayed_dive_site, false));
+	ui.locationTags->setText(constructLocationTags(&taxonomy, false));
 
 }
 
@@ -172,15 +173,15 @@ void LocationInformationWidget::acceptChanges()
 		free(uiString);
 	}
 	uiString = copy_qstring(ui.diveSiteCountry->text());
-	// if the user entered a different contriy, first update the taxonomy
-	// for the displayed dive site; this below will get copied into the currentDs
-	if (!same_string(uiString, taxonomy_get_country(&displayed_dive_site.taxonomy)) &&
+	// if the user entered a different country, first update the local taxonomy
+	// this below will get copied into the currentDs
+	if (!same_string(uiString, taxonomy_get_country(&taxonomy)) &&
 	    !empty_string(uiString))
-		taxonomy_set_country(&displayed_dive_site.taxonomy, uiString, taxonomy_origin::GEOMANUAL);
+		taxonomy_set_country(&taxonomy, uiString, taxonomy_origin::GEOMANUAL);
 	else
 		free(uiString);
 	// now update the currentDs (which we then later copy back ontop of displayed_dive_site
-	copy_dive_site_taxonomy(&displayed_dive_site, currentDs);
+	copy_taxonomy(&taxonomy, &currentDs->taxonomy);
 
 	uiString = copy_qstring(ui.diveSiteNotes->document()->toPlainText());
 	if (!same_string(uiString, currentDs->notes)) {
@@ -214,6 +215,7 @@ void LocationInformationWidget::initFields(dive_site *ds)
 {
 	if (ds) {
 		copy_dive_site(ds, &displayed_dive_site);
+		copy_taxonomy(&ds->taxonomy, &taxonomy);
 		filter_model.set(displayed_dive_site.uuid, displayed_dive_site.latitude, displayed_dive_site.longitude);
 		updateLabels();
 		enableLocationButtons(dive_site_has_gps_location(&displayed_dive_site));
@@ -283,7 +285,7 @@ void LocationInformationWidget::on_diveSiteCoordinates_textChanged(const QString
 
 void LocationInformationWidget::on_diveSiteCountry_textChanged(const QString& text)
 {
-	if (!same_string(qPrintable(text), taxonomy_get_country(&displayed_dive_site.taxonomy)))
+	if (!same_string(qPrintable(text), taxonomy_get_country(&taxonomy)))
 		markChangedWidget(ui.diveSiteCountry);
 }
 
@@ -317,7 +319,7 @@ void LocationInformationWidget::resetPallete()
 
 void LocationInformationWidget::reverseGeocode()
 {
-	reverseGeoLookup(displayed_dive_site.latitude, displayed_dive_site.longitude, &displayed_dive_site.taxonomy);
+	reverseGeoLookup(displayed_dive_site.latitude, displayed_dive_site.longitude, &taxonomy);
 	updateLabels();
 }
 
diff --git a/desktop-widgets/locationinformation.h b/desktop-widgets/locationinformation.h
index 3e0da4aa6..43115a05b 100644
--- a/desktop-widgets/locationinformation.h
+++ b/desktop-widgets/locationinformation.h
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 #include "core/units.h"
 #include "core/divesite.h"
+#include "core/taxonomy.h"
 #include "ui_locationInformation.h"
 #include "qt-models/divelocationmodel.h"
 #include <stdint.h>
@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@ private:
 	QAction *acceptAction, *rejectAction;
 	GPSLocationInformationModel filter_model;
 	dive_site displayed_dive_site;
+	taxonomy_data taxonomy;
 };
 
 class DiveLocationFilterProxyModel : public QSortFilterProxyModel {
diff --git a/desktop-widgets/tab-widgets/maintab.cpp b/desktop-widgets/tab-widgets/maintab.cpp
index 322ec5943..32f390a7d 100644
--- a/desktop-widgets/tab-widgets/maintab.cpp
+++ b/desktop-widgets/tab-widgets/maintab.cpp
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ void MainTab::updateDiveInfo(bool clear)
 		ds = get_dive_site_by_uuid(displayed_dive.dive_site_uuid);
 		if (ds) {
 			ui.location->setCurrentDiveSiteUuid(ds->uuid);
-			ui.locationTags->setText(constructLocationTags(ds, true));
+			ui.locationTags->setText(constructLocationTags(&ds->taxonomy, true));
 		} else {
 			ui.location->clear();
 			ui.locationTags->clear();