diff --git a/evennia/prototypes/spawner.py b/evennia/prototypes/spawner.py
index ac6ad854b1..d1c099fb57 100644
--- a/evennia/prototypes/spawner.py
+++ b/evennia/prototypes/spawner.py
@@ -716,7 +716,7 @@ def spawn(*prototypes, **kwargs):
         val = prot.pop("tags", [])
         tags = []
         for (tag, category, data) in val:
-            tags.append((init_spawn_value(val, str), category, data))
+            tags.append((init_spawn_value(tag, str), category, data))
 
         prototype_key = prototype.get('prototype_key', None)
         if prototype_key: