diff --git a/onadata/libs/serializers/tag_list_serializer.py b/onadata/libs/serializers/tag_list_serializer.py
index 2e2de89553..7b38ab63bc 100644
--- a/onadata/libs/serializers/tag_list_serializer.py
+++ b/onadata/libs/serializers/tag_list_serializer.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ class TagListSerializer(serializers.WritableField):
     def from_native(self, data):
         if type(data) is not list:
             raise ParseError("expected a list of data")
+
         return data
 
     def to_native(self, obj):
@@ -14,5 +15,6 @@ def to_native(self, obj):
             return super(TagListSerializer, self).to_native(obj)
 
         if type(obj) is not list:
-            return [tag.name for tag in obj.all()]
+            return list(obj.values_list('name', flat=True))
+
         return obj