diff --git a/src/commands/CmdTag.cpp b/src/commands/CmdTag.cpp
index eb056fa7..89e48fc7 100644
--- a/src/commands/CmdTag.cpp
+++ b/src/commands/CmdTag.cpp
@@ -39,12 +39,6 @@ int CmdTag (
 {
   // Gather IDs and TAGs.
   std::set <int> ids = cli.getIds ();
-
-  if (ids.empty ())
-  {
-    throw std::string ("IDs must be specified. See 'timew help tag'.");
-  }
-
   std::vector<std::string> tags = cli.getTags ();
 
   // Load the data.
@@ -75,6 +69,11 @@ int CmdTag (
     }
   }
 
+  if (ids.empty ())
+  {
+    throw std::string ("At least one ID must be specified. See 'timew help tag'.");
+  }
+
   // Apply tags to ids.
   for (auto& id : ids)
   {
diff --git a/test/tag.t b/test/tag.t
index a8eebf3b..814b8866 100755
--- a/test/tag.t
+++ b/test/tag.t
@@ -49,6 +49,13 @@ class TestTag(TestCase):
         code, out, err = self.t("tag @1 foo")
         self.assertIn('Added foo to @1', out)
 
+
+    def test_should_fail_on_missing_id_and_inactive_time_tracking(self):
+        """Missing id on inactive time tracking is an error"""
+        self.t("track yesterday for 1hour")
+        code, out, err = self.t.runError("tag foo")
+        self.assertIn("At least one ID must be specified.", err)
+
     def test_add_tag_to_closed_interval(self):
         """Add a tag to an closed interval"""
         self.t("track yesterday for 1hour")