diff --git a/lib/diaspora/taggable.rb b/lib/diaspora/taggable.rb
index 0f0d43df8..fae6f177a 100644
--- a/lib/diaspora/taggable.rb
+++ b/lib/diaspora/taggable.rb
@@ -27,10 +27,11 @@ module Diaspora
     end
 
     def tag_strings
-      regex = /(?:^|\s)#(#{VALID_TAG_BODY})/
-      matches = self.send(self.class.field_with_tags).scan(regex).map do |match|
-        match.last
-      end
+      regex = /(?:^|\s)#([\w-]+|<3)/
+      matches = self.
+        send( self.class.field_with_tags ).
+        scan(regex).
+        map { |match| match[0] }
       unique_matches = matches.inject(Hash.new) do |h,element|
         h[element.downcase] = element unless h[element.downcase]
         h
diff --git a/spec/shared_behaviors/taggable.rb b/spec/shared_behaviors/taggable.rb
index 0b750b38e..c84b7d629 100644
--- a/spec/shared_behaviors/taggable.rb
+++ b/spec/shared_behaviors/taggable.rb
@@ -44,12 +44,51 @@ describe Diaspora::Taggable do
     describe '#tag_strings' do
       it 'returns a string for every #thing' do
         str = '#what #hey #that"smybike. #@hey ##boo # #THATWASMYBIKE #vöglein #hey#there #135440we #abc/23 ### #h!gh #ok? #see: #re:publica'
-        arr = ['what', 'hey', 'that', 'THATWASMYBIKE', 'vöglein', '135440we', 'abc', 'h!gh', 'ok', 'see', 're:publica']
+        arr = ['what', 'hey', 'that', 'THATWASMYBIKE', 'vöglein', '135440we', 'abc', 'h', 'ok', 'see', 're']
 
         @object.send(@object.class.field_with_tags_setter, str)
         @object.tag_strings.should =~ arr
       end
 
+      it 'extracts tags despite surrounding text' do
+        expected = {
+          '#foobar'                => 'foobar',
+          '#foocar<br>'            => 'foocar',
+          '#fooo@oo'               => 'fooo',
+          '#num3ric hash tags'     => 'num3ric',
+          '#12345 tag'             => '12345',
+          '#12cde tag'             => '12cde',
+          '#abc45 tag'             => 'abc45',
+          '#<3'                    => '<3',
+          '#<4'                    => nil,
+          'test#foo test'          => nil,
+          'test.#joo bar'          => nil,
+          'test #foodar test'      => 'foodar',
+          'test #foofar<br> test ' => 'foofar',
+          'test #gooo@oo test'     => 'gooo',
+          'test #<3 test'          => '<3',
+          'test #foo-test test'    => 'foo-test',
+          'test #hoo'              => 'hoo',
+          'test #two_word tags'    => 'two_word',
+          'test #three_word_tags'  => 'three_word_tags',
+          '#terminal_underscore_'  => 'terminal_underscore_',
+          '#terminalunderscore_'   => 'terminalunderscore_',
+          '#_initialunderscore'    => '_initialunderscore',
+          '#_initial_underscore'   => '_initial_underscore',
+          '#terminalhyphen-'       => 'terminalhyphen-',
+          '#terminal-hyphen-'      => 'terminal-hyphen-',
+          '#terminalhyphen- tag'   => 'terminalhyphen-',
+          '#-initialhyphen'        => '-initialhyphen',
+          '#-initialhyphen tag'    => '-initialhyphen',
+          '#-initial-hyphen'       => '-initial-hyphen',
+        }
+
+        expected.each do |text,hashtag|
+          @object.send  @object.class.field_with_tags_setter, text
+          @object.tag_strings.should == [hashtag].compact
+        end
+      end
+
       it 'returns no duplicates' do
         str = '#what #what #what #whaaaaaaaaaat'
         arr = ['what','whaaaaaaaaaat']