diff --git a/ext/auto_tagger/main.php b/ext/auto_tagger/main.php
index dc2a7d000..b3bdc00c2 100644
--- a/ext/auto_tagger/main.php
+++ b/ext/auto_tagger/main.php
@@ -152,17 +152,16 @@ public function onTagSet(TagSetEvent $event): void
     {
         error_log("auto-tagger: tag set!");
         foreach($event->new_tags as $nt) {
-            error_log("new tag: ".$nt);
+            error_log("auto-tagger: new tag: ".$nt);
         }
         foreach($event->old_tags as $ot) {
-            error_log("old tag: ".$ot);
+            error_log("auto-tagger: old tag: ".$ot);
         }
         foreach($event->metatags as $mt) {
-            error_log("meta tag: ".$mt);
+            error_log("auto-tagger: meta tag: ".$mt);
         }
         $results = $this->apply_auto_tags($event->new_tags);
         if (!empty($results)) {
-            $event->new_tags = $results;
             error_log("auto-tagger: checking results for metatags...");
             # need to check tags again for metatags
             foreach ($results as $r) {
@@ -170,9 +169,12 @@ public function onTagSet(TagSetEvent $event): void
                     $ttpe = send_event(new TagTermCheckEvent($r));
     
                     //seperate tags from metatags
-                    if ($ttpe->metatag) {
-                        error_log($r." is a meta tag!");
-                        $this->metatags[] = $r;
+                    if (!$ttpe->metatag) {
+                        $event->new_tags = $r;
+                        error_log("auto-tagger: ".$r." is a normal tag.");
+                    } else {
+                        error_log("auto-tagger: ".$r." is a meta tag!");
+                        $event->metatags[] = $r;
                     }    
                 }
             }