diff --git a/src/git/tag.h b/src/git/tag.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..509d2f047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/git/tag.h
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+#ifndef INCLUDE_git_tag_h__
+#define INCLUDE_git_tag_h__
+
+#include "common.h"
+#include "oid.h"
+#include "tree.h"
+
+/**
+ * @file git/tag.h
+ * @brief Git tag parsing routines
+ * @defgroup git_tag Git tag management
+ * @ingroup Git
+ * @{
+ */
+GIT_BEGIN_DECL
+
+/** Parsed representation of a tag object. */
+typedef struct git_tag git_tag;
+
+/**
+ * Locate a reference to a tag without loading it.
+ * The generated tag object is owned by the revision
+ * pool and shall not be freed by the user.
+ *
+ * @param pool the pool to use when locating the tag.
+ * @param id identity of the tag to locate.
+ * @return the tag; NULL if the tag could not be created
+ */
+GIT_EXTERN(git_tag *) git_tag_lookup(git_revpool *pool, const git_oid *id);
+
+/**
+ * Locate a reference to a tag, and try to load and parse it it from
+ * the object cache or the object database.
+ * The generated tag object is owned by the revision
+ * pool and shall not be freed by the user.
+ *
+ * @param pool the pool to use when parsing/caching the tag.
+ * @param id identity of the tag to locate.  
+ * @return the tag; NULL if the tag does not exist in the
+ *         pool's git_odb, or if the tag is present but is
+ *         too malformed to be parsed successfully.
+ */
+GIT_EXTERN(git_tag *) git_tag_parse(git_revpool *pool, const git_oid *id);
+
+/**
+ * Get the id of a tag.
+ * @param tag a previously loaded tag.
+ * @return object identity for the tag.
+ */
+GIT_EXTERN(const git_oid *) git_tag_id(git_tag *tag);
+
+/**
+ * Get the tagged object of a tag
+ * @param tag a previously loaded tag.
+ * @return reference to a repository object
+ */
+GIT_EXTERN(const git_repository_object *) git_tag_target(git_tag *t);
+
+/**
+ * Get the type of a tag's tagged object
+ * @param tag a previously loaded tag.
+ * @return type of the tagged object
+ */
+GIT_EXTERN(git_otype) git_tag_type(git_tag *t);
+
+/**
+ * Get the name of a tag
+ * @param tag a previously loaded tag.
+ * @return name of the tag
+ */
+GIT_EXTERN(const char *) git_tag_name(git_tag *t);
+
+/**
+ * Get the tagger (author) of a tag
+ * @param tag a previously loaded tag.
+ * @return reference to the tag's author
+ */
+GIT_EXTERN(const git_person *) git_tag_tagger(git_tag *t);
+
+/**
+ * Get the message of a tag
+ * @param tag a previously loaded tag.
+ * @return message of the tag
+ */
+GIT_EXTERN(const char *) git_tag_message(git_tag *t);
+
+/** @} */
+GIT_END_DECL
+#endif
diff --git a/src/tag.c b/src/tag.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..803cfa13c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tag.c
@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+/*
+ * This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2,
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * In addition to the permissions in the GNU General Public License,
+ * the authors give you unlimited permission to link the compiled
+ * version of this file into combinations with other programs,
+ * and to distribute those combinations without any restriction
+ * coming from the use of this file.  (The General Public License
+ * restrictions do apply in other respects; for example, they cover
+ * modification of the file, and distribution when not linked into
+ * a combined executable.)
+ *
+ * This file is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+ * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  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; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to
+ * the Free Software Foundation, 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+ * Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+ */
+
+#include "common.h"
+#include "commit.h"
+#include "tag.h"
+#include "revwalk.h"
+#include "git/odb.h"
+
+
+void git_tag__free(git_tag *tag)
+{
+	free(tag->message);
+	free(tag->tag_name);
+	free(tag->tagger);
+	free(tag);
+}
+
+const git_oid *git_tag_id(git_tag *t)
+{
+	return &t->object.id;
+}
+
+const git_revpool_object *git_tag_target(git_tag *t)
+{
+	if (t->target)
+		return t->target;
+
+	git_tag__parse(t);
+	return t->target;
+}
+
+git_otype git_tag_type(git_tag *t)
+{
+	if (t->type)
+		return t->type;
+
+	git_tag__parse(t);
+	return t->type;
+}
+
+
+const char *git_tag_name(git_tag *t)
+{
+	if (t->tag_name)
+		return t->tag_name;
+
+	git_tag__parse(t);
+	return t->tag_name;
+}
+
+const git_person *git_tag_tagger(git_tag *t)
+{
+	if (t->tagger)
+		return t->tagger;
+
+	git_tag__parse(t);
+	return t->tagger;
+}
+
+const char *git_tag_message(git_tag *t)
+{
+	if (t->message)
+		return t->message;
+
+	git_tag__parse(t);
+	return t->message;
+}
+
+static int parse_tag_buffer(git_tag *tag, char *buffer, const char *buffer_end)
+{
+	static const char *tag_types[] = {
+		NULL, "commit\n", "tree\n", "blob\n", "tag\n"
+	};
+
+	git_oid target_oid;
+	unsigned int i, text_len;
+	char *search;
+
+	if (git__parse_oid(&target_oid, &buffer, buffer_end, "object ") < 0)
+		return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED;
+
+	if (buffer + 5 >= buffer_end)
+		return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED;
+
+	if (memcmp(buffer, "type ", 5) != 0)
+		return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED;
+	buffer += 5;
+
+	tag->type = GIT_OBJ_BAD;
+
+	for (i = 1; i < ARRAY_SIZE(tag_types); ++i) {
+		size_t type_length = strlen(tag_types[i]);
+
+		if (buffer + type_length >= buffer_end)
+			return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED;
+
+		if (memcmp(buffer, tag_types[i], type_length) == 0) {
+			tag->type = i;
+			buffer += type_length;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (tag->type == GIT_OBJ_BAD)
+		return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED;
+
+	/* Lookup the tagged object once we know its type */
+	tag->target = 
+		git_repository_lookup(tag->object.repo, &target_oid, tag->type);
+
+	/* FIXME: is the tag file really corrupted if the tagged object
+	 * cannot be found on the database? */
+	/* if (tag->target == NULL)
+		return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED; */
+
+	if (buffer + 4 >= buffer_end)
+		return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED;
+
+	if (memcmp(buffer, "tag ", 4) != 0)
+		return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED;
+	buffer += 4;
+
+	search = memchr(buffer, '\n', buffer_end - buffer);
+	if (search == NULL)
+		return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED;
+
+	text_len = search - buffer;
+
+	if (tag->tag_name != NULL)
+		free(tag->tag_name);
+
+	tag->tag_name = git__malloc(text_len + 1);
+	memcpy(tag->tag_name, buffer, text_len);
+	tag->tag_name[text_len] = '\0';
+
+	buffer = search + 1;
+
+	if (tag->tagger != NULL)
+		free(tag->tagger);
+
+	tag->tagger = git__malloc(sizeof(git_person));
+
+	if (git__parse_person(tag->tagger, &buffer, buffer_end, "tagger ") != 0)
+		return GIT_EOBJCORRUPTED;
+
+	text_len = buffer_end - buffer;
+
+	if (tag->message != NULL)
+		free(tag->message);
+
+	tag->message = git__malloc(text_len + 1);
+	memcpy(tag->message, buffer, text_len);
+	tag->message[text_len] = '\0';
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int git_tag__parse(git_tag *tag)
+{
+	int error = 0;
+	git_obj odb_object;
+
+	error = git_odb_read(&odb_object, tag->object.pool->db, &tag->object.id);
+	if (error < 0)
+		return error;
+
+	if (odb_object.type != GIT_OBJ_TAG) {
+		error = GIT_EOBJTYPE;
+		goto cleanup;
+	}
+
+	error = parse_tag_buffer(tag, odb_object.data, odb_object.data + odb_object.len);
+
+cleanup:
+	git_obj_close(&odb_object);
+	return error;
+}
+
+git_tag *git_tag_lookup(git_revpool *pool, const git_oid *id)
+{
+	git_tag *tag = NULL;
+
+	if (pool == NULL)
+		return NULL;
+
+	tag = (git_tag *)git_revpool_table_lookup(pool->objects, id);
+	if (tag != NULL)
+		return tag;
+
+	tag = git__malloc(sizeof(git_tag));
+
+	if (tag == NULL)
+		return NULL;
+
+	memset(tag, 0x0, sizeof(git_tag));
+
+	/* Initialize parent object */
+	git_oid_cpy(&tag->object.id, id);
+	tag->object.pool = pool;
+	tag->object.type = GIT_OBJ_TAG;
+
+	git_revpool_table_insert(pool->objects, (git_revpool_object *)tag);
+
+	return tag;
+}
diff --git a/src/tag.h b/src/tag.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b1f5e2b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tag.h
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#ifndef INCLUDE_tag_h__
+#define INCLUDE_tag_h__
+
+#include "git/tag.h"
+#include "revobject.h"
+
+struct git_tag {
+	git_revpool_object object;
+
+	git_revpool_object *target;
+	git_otype type;
+	char *tag_name;
+	git_person *tagger;
+	char *message;
+};
+
+void git_tag__free(git_tag *tag);
+int git_tag__parse(git_tag *tag);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/tests/resources/pack-odb/7b/4384978d2493e851f9cca7858815fac9b10980 b/tests/resources/pack-odb/7b/4384978d2493e851f9cca7858815fac9b10980
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..23c462f34
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diff --git a/tests/resources/pack-odb/b2/5fa35b38051e4ae45d4222e795f9df2e43f1d1 b/tests/resources/pack-odb/b2/5fa35b38051e4ae45d4222e795f9df2e43f1d1
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f460f2547
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diff --git a/tests/t0801-readtag.c b/tests/t0801-readtag.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e675e8b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/t0801-readtag.c
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#include "test_lib.h"
+#include "test_helpers.h"
+#include "commit.h"
+
+#include <git/odb.h>
+#include <git/commit.h>
+#include <git/tag.h>
+
+static const char *odb_dir = "../resources/pack-odb";
+static const char *tag1_id = "b25fa35b38051e4ae45d4222e795f9df2e43f1d1";
+static const char *tag2_id = "7b4384978d2493e851f9cca7858815fac9b10980";
+static const char *tagged_commit = "e90810b8df3e80c413d903f631643c716887138d";
+
+BEGIN_TEST(readtag)
+	git_odb *db;
+	git_repository *repo;
+	git_tag *tag1, *tag2;
+	git_commit *commit;
+	git_oid id1, id2, id_commit;
+
+	must_pass(git_odb_open(&db, odb_dir));
+
+	repo = git_repository_alloc(db);
+	must_be_true(repo != NULL);
+
+	git_oid_mkstr(&id1, tag1_id);
+	git_oid_mkstr(&id2, tag2_id);
+	git_oid_mkstr(&id_commit, tagged_commit);
+
+	tag1 = git_tag_lookup(repo, &id1);
+	must_be_true(tag1 != NULL);
+
+	must_be_true(strcmp(git_tag_name(tag1), "test") == 0);
+	must_be_true(git_tag_type(tag1) == GIT_OBJ_TAG);
+
+	tag2 = (git_tag *)git_tag_target(tag1);
+	must_be_true(tag2 != NULL);
+
+	must_be_true(git_oid_cmp(&id2, git_tag_id(tag2)) == 0);
+
+	commit = (git_commit *)git_tag_target(tag2);
+	must_be_true(commit != NULL);
+
+	must_be_true(git_oid_cmp(&id_commit, git_commit_id(commit)) == 0);
+
+	git_repository_free(repo);
+	git_odb_close(db);
+END_TEST