diff --git a/tests/data/apps/example_app/twine.json b/tests/data/apps/example_app/twine.json
index 394833d..a86ee38 100644
--- a/tests/data/apps/example_app/twine.json
+++ b/tests/data/apps/example_app/twine.json
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
 		{
 			"key": "production_data",
 			"purpose": "A dataset containing production data",
-			"tags": "production, wind"
+			"tags": ["production", "wind"]
 		}
 	],
 	"output_values_schema": {
diff --git a/tests/test_manifest_strands.py b/tests/test_manifest_strands.py
index 8da4190..5ca0bb0 100644
--- a/tests/test_manifest_strands.py
+++ b/tests/test_manifest_strands.py
@@ -62,14 +62,14 @@ def test_valid_manifest_files(self):
                     {
                         "id": "34ad7669-8162-4f64-8cd5-4abe92509e17",
                         "name": "my configuration dataset",
-                        "tags": "the, config, tags",
+                        "tags": ["the", "config", "tags"],
                         "files": [
                             {
                                 "path": "configuration/datasets/7ead7669/file_1.csv",
                                 "cluster": 0,
                                 "sequence": 0,
                                 "extension": "csv",
-                                "tags": "",
+                                "tags": [],
                                 "posix_timestamp": 0,
                                 "id": "abff07bc-7c19-4ed5-be6d-a6546eae8e86",
                                 "last_modified": "2019-02-28T22:40:30.533005Z",
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ def test_valid_manifest_files(self):
                                 "cluster": 0,
                                 "sequence": 1,
                                 "extension": "csv",
-                                "tags": "",
+                                "tags": [],
                                 "posix_timestamp": 0,
                                 "id": "bbff07bc-7c19-4ed5-be6d-a6546eae8e45",
                                 "last_modified": "2019-02-28T22:40:40.633001Z",
@@ -103,14 +103,14 @@ def test_valid_manifest_files(self):
                     {
                         "id": "7ead7669-8162-4f64-8cd5-4abe92509e17",
                         "name": "my meteorological dataset",
-                        "tags": "met, mast, wind",
+                        "tags": ["met", "mast", "wind"],
                         "files": [
                             {
                                 "path": "input/datasets/7ead7669/file_1.csv",
                                 "cluster": 0,
                                 "sequence": 0,
                                 "extension": "csv",
-                                "tags": "",
+                                "tags": [],
                                 "posix_timestamp": 0,
                                 "id": "abff07bc-7c19-4ed5-be6d-a6546eae8e86",
                                 "last_modified": "2019-02-28T22:40:30.533005Z",
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ def test_valid_manifest_files(self):
                                 "cluster": 0,
                                 "sequence": 1,
                                 "extension": "csv",
-                                "tags": "",
+                                "tags": [],
                                 "posix_timestamp": 0,
                                 "id": "bbff07bc-7c19-4ed5-be6d-a6546eae8e45",
                                 "last_modified": "2019-02-28T22:40:40.633001Z",
@@ -144,14 +144,14 @@ def test_valid_manifest_files(self):
                     {
                         "id": "1ead7669-8162-4f64-8cd5-4abe92509e17",
                         "name": "my output dataset",
-                        "tags": "the, output, tags",
+                        "tags": ["the", "output", "tags"],
                         "files": [
                             {
                                 "path": "input/datasets/7ead7669/file_1.csv",
                                 "cluster": 0,
                                 "sequence": 0,
                                 "extension": "csv",
-                                "tags": "",
+                                "tags": [],
                                 "posix_timestamp": 0,
                                 "id": "abff07bc-7c19-4ed5-be6d-a6546eae8e86",
                                 "last_modified": "2019-02-28T22:40:30.533005Z",
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ def test_valid_manifest_files(self):
                                 "cluster": 0,
                                 "sequence": 1,
                                 "extension": "csv",
-                                "tags": "",
+                                "tags": [],
                                 "posix_timestamp": 0,
                                 "id": "bbff07bc-7c19-4ed5-be6d-a6546eae8e45",
                                 "last_modified": "2019-02-28T22:40:40.633001Z",
diff --git a/twined/schema/manifest_schema.json b/twined/schema/manifest_schema.json
index 2e72694..ebbf19b 100644
--- a/twined/schema/manifest_schema.json
+++ b/twined/schema/manifest_schema.json
@@ -34,7 +34,12 @@
           },
           "tags": {
             "description": "Textual tags associated with the dataset",
-            "type": "string"
+            "type": "array",
+            "items": [
+              {
+                "type": "string"
+              }
+            ]
           },
           "files": {
             "description": "Textual tags associated with the manifest",
@@ -67,7 +72,13 @@
                   "type": "number"
                 },
                 "tags": {
-                  "description": "Textual tags associated with the file"
+                  "description": "Textual tags associated with the file",
+                  "type": "array",
+                  "items": [
+                    {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  ]
                 }
               },
               "required": [
diff --git a/twined/schema/twine_schema.json b/twined/schema/twine_schema.json
index 9522ffb..eda7828 100644
--- a/twined/schema/twine_schema.json
+++ b/twined/schema/twine_schema.json
@@ -96,8 +96,12 @@
           },
           "tags": {
             "description": "Comma separated tags that will be applied to the dataset when created",
-            "type": "string",
-            "default": ""
+            "type": "array",
+            "items": [
+              {
+                "type": "string"
+              }
+            ]
           }
         },
         "required": ["key"]