diff --git a/include/reader.h b/include/reader.h
index 77d4e9793..3dcdc441d 100644
--- a/include/reader.h
+++ b/include/reader.h
@@ -229,9 +229,11 @@ class Reader
   /**
    * Get the tags of the zim file.
    *
-   * @return The tags of the zim file as specified in the zim metadata.
+   * @param original If true, return the original tags as specified in the zim metadata.
+   *                 Else, try to convert it to the new 'normalized' format.
+   * @return The tags of the zim file.
    */
-  string getTags() const;
+  string getTags(bool original=false) const;
 
   /**
    * Get the relations of the zim file.
diff --git a/src/reader.cpp b/src/reader.cpp
index 0a02985e7..43b7a1491 100644
--- a/src/reader.cpp
+++ b/src/reader.cpp
@@ -352,9 +352,52 @@ string Reader::getLicense() const
   METADATA("License")
 }
 
-string Reader::getTags() const
+std::vector<std::string> convertTags(const std::string& tags_str)
 {
-  METADATA("Tags")
+  auto tags = split(tags_str, ";");
+  std::vector<std::string> tagsList;
+  bool picSeen(false), vidSeen(false), detSeen(false), indexSeen(false);
+  for (auto tag: tags) {
+    picSeen |= (tag == "nopic" || startsWith(tag, "_pictures:"));
+    vidSeen |= (tag == "novid" || startsWith(tag, "_videos:"));
+    detSeen |= (tag == "nodet" || startsWith(tag, "_details:"));
+    indexSeen |= startsWith(tag, "_ftindex");
+    if (tag == "nopic") {
+      tagsList.push_back("_pictures:no");
+    } else if (tag == "novid") {
+      tagsList.push_back("_videos:no");
+    } else if (tag == "nodet") {
+      tagsList.push_back("_details:no");
+    } else if (tag == "_ftindex") {
+      tagsList.push_back("_ftindex:yes");
+    } else {
+      tagsList.push_back(tag);
+    }
+  }
+  if (!indexSeen) {
+    tagsList.push_back("_ftindex:no");
+  }
+  if (!picSeen) {
+    tagsList.push_back("_pictures:yes");
+  }
+  if (!vidSeen) {
+    tagsList.push_back("_videos:yes");
+  }
+  if (!detSeen) {
+    tagsList.push_back("_details:yes");
+  }
+  return tagsList;
+}
+
+string Reader::getTags(bool original) const
+{
+  string tags_str;
+  getMetadata("Tags", tags_str);
+  if (original) {
+    return tags_str;
+  }
+  auto tags = convertTags(tags_str);
+  return join(tags, ";");
 }
 
 string Reader::getRelation() const
diff --git a/test/meson.build b/test/meson.build
index ad537ad3f..2777d1ea5 100644
--- a/test/meson.build
+++ b/test/meson.build
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 tests = [
     'parseUrl',
     'library',
-    'regex'
+    'regex',
+    'tagParsing'
 ]
 
 
diff --git a/test/tagParsing.cpp b/test/tagParsing.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c58c1dbe4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tagParsing.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2019 Matthieu Gautier
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+ * is provided AS IS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
+ * warranty of MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, and
+ * NON-INFRINGEMENT.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301 USA
+ *
+ */
+
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace kiwix {
+std::vector<std::string> convertTags(const std::string& tags);
+std::string getTagValueFromTagList(const std::vector<std::string>& tagList, const std::string& tagName);
+};
+
+using namespace kiwix;
+#define parse_tag getTagValueFromTagList
+
+namespace
+{
+TEST(ParseTagTest, convert)
+{
+  {
+    std::string tagStr = "";
+    std::vector<std::string> tagList = {"_ftindex:no", "_pictures:yes", "_videos:yes", "_details:yes"};
+    ASSERT_EQ(convertTags(tagStr), tagList);
+  }
+  {
+    std::string tagStr = "_category:foo;bar";
+    std::vector<std::string> tagList = {"_category:foo", "bar", "_ftindex:no", "_pictures:yes", "_videos:yes", "_details:yes"};
+    ASSERT_EQ(convertTags(tagStr), tagList);
+  }
+  {
+    std::string tagStr = "_ftindex:no;_pictures:yes;_videos:yes;_details:yes;_category:foo;bar";
+    std::vector<std::string> tagList = {"_ftindex:no", "_pictures:yes", "_videos:yes", "_details:yes", "_category:foo", "bar"};
+    ASSERT_EQ(convertTags(tagStr), tagList);
+  }
+  {
+    std::string tagStr = "_ftindex:yes;_pictures:no;_videos:no;_details:no;_category:foo;bar";
+    std::vector<std::string> tagList = {"_ftindex:yes", "_pictures:no", "_videos:no", "_details:no", "_category:foo", "bar"};
+    ASSERT_EQ(convertTags(tagStr), tagList);
+  }
+  {
+    std::string tagStr = "_ftindex;nopic;novid;nodet;foo;bar";
+    std::vector<std::string> tagList = {"_ftindex:yes", "_pictures:no", "_videos:no", "_details:no", "foo", "bar"};
+    ASSERT_EQ(convertTags(tagStr), tagList);
+  }
+}
+
+};
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
+{
+  ::testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
+  return RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+}