diff --git a/pybis/src/python/pybis/pybis.py b/pybis/src/python/pybis/pybis.py
index c66bb809c1633421c09c195f36c82bf45c81c6c0..85010ba390455bc8811cb5f8b75787fd5c828089 100644
--- a/pybis/src/python/pybis/pybis.py
+++ b/pybis/src/python/pybis/pybis.py
@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ def _type_for_id(ident, entity):
     # Tags have strange permIds...
     if entity.lower() == 'tag':
         if '/' in ident:
+            if not ident.startswith('/'):
+                ident = '/'+ident
             return {
                 "permId": ident,
                 "@type" : "as.dto.tag.id.TagPermId"