diff --git a/dyaml/dumper.d b/dyaml/dumper.d
index 00ca9f9..735e7dc 100644
--- a/dyaml/dumper.d
+++ b/dyaml/dumper.d
@@ -277,22 +277,24 @@ struct Dumper
          * Example:
          * --------------------
          * Dumper dumper = Dumper("file.yaml");
+         * string[string] directives;
+         * directives["!short!"] = "tag:long.org,2011:";
          * //This will emit tags starting with "tag:long.org,2011"
          * //with a "!short!" prefix instead.
-         * dumper.tags("short", "tag:long.org,2011:");
+         * dumper.tagDirectives(directives);
          * dumper.dump(Node("foo"));
          * --------------------
          */
         void tagDirectives(string[string] tags)
         {
-            Tuple!(string, string)[] t;
+            tagDirective[] t;
             foreach(handle, prefix; tags)
             {
                 assert(handle.length >= 1 && handle[0] == '!' && handle[$ - 1] == '!',
                        "A tag handle is empty or does not start and end with a "
                        "'!' character : " ~ handle);
                 assert(prefix.length >= 1, "A tag prefix is empty");
-                t ~= tuple(handle, prefix);
+                t ~= tagDirective(handle, prefix);
             }
             tags_ = TagDirectives(t);
         }
diff --git a/dyaml/emitter.d b/dyaml/emitter.d
index 3c2a8f9..cd319d9 100644
--- a/dyaml/emitter.d
+++ b/dyaml/emitter.d
@@ -65,12 +65,11 @@ align(4) struct ScalarAnalysis
 struct Emitter 
 {
     private:
+        alias dyaml.tagdirectives.tagDirective tagDirective;
+
         ///Default tag handle shortcuts and replacements.
-        static string[string] defaultTags_;
-        static this()
-        {
-            defaultTags_ = ["!" : "!", "tag:yaml.org,2002:" :  "!!"];
-        }
+        static tagDirective[] defaultTagDirectives_ = 
+            [tagDirective("!", "!"), tagDirective("!!", "tag:yaml.org,2002:")];
 
         ///Stream to write to.
         Stream stream_;
@@ -82,7 +81,6 @@ struct Emitter
         ///Current state.
         void delegate() state_;
 
-        //TODO Should be replaced by a queue or linked list once Phobos has anything usable.
         ///Event queue.
         Queue!Event events_;
         ///Event we're currently emitting.
@@ -130,8 +128,8 @@ struct Emitter
         ///Best line break character/s.
         LineBreak bestLineBreak_;
 
-        ///Tag directive handles and prefixes.
-        Tuple!(string, string)[] tagDirectives_;
+        ///Tag directive handle - prefix pairs.
+        tagDirective[] tagDirectives_;
 
         ///Anchor/alias to process.
         string preparedAnchor_ = null;
@@ -366,13 +364,18 @@ struct Emitter
 
                     foreach(ref pair; tagDirectives_)
                     {
-                        const handle = pair[0];
-                        const prefix = pair[1];
-                        writeTagDirective(prepareTagHandle(handle), 
-                                          prepareTagPrefix(prefix));
+                        writeTagDirective(prepareTagHandle(pair.handle), 
+                                          prepareTagPrefix(pair.prefix));
                     }
                 }
 
+                bool eq(ref tagDirective a, ref tagDirective b){return a.handle == b.handle;}
+                //Add any default tag directives that have not been overriden.
+                foreach(ref def; defaultTagDirectives_) if(!canFind!eq(tagDirectives_, def))
+                {
+                    tagDirectives_ ~= def;
+                }
+
                 const implicit = first && !event_.explicitDocument && !canonical_ &&
                                  YAMLVersion is null && tagDirectives.isNull() && 
                                  !checkEmptyDocument();
diff --git a/dyaml/parser.d b/dyaml/parser.d
index 00bef57..e175b3d 100644
--- a/dyaml/parser.d
+++ b/dyaml/parser.d
@@ -106,10 +106,10 @@ final class Parser
 {
     private:
         ///Default tag handle shortcuts and replacements.
-        static Tuple!(string, string)[] defaultTags_;
+        static tagDirective[] defaultTagDirectives_;
         static this()
         {
-            defaultTags_ = [tuple("!", "!"), tuple("!!", "tag:yaml.org,2002:")];
+            defaultTagDirectives_ = [tagDirective("!", "!"), tagDirective("!!", "tag:yaml.org,2002:")];
         }
 
         ///Scanner providing YAML tokens.
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ final class Parser
         ///YAML version string.
         string YAMLVersion_ = null;
         ///Tag handle shortcuts and replacements.
-        Tuple!(string, string)[] tagHandles_;
+        tagDirective[] tagHandles_;
 
         ///Stack of states.
         Event delegate()[] states_;
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ final class Parser
             if(!scanner_.checkToken(TokenID.Directive, TokenID.DocumentStart,
                                     TokenID.StreamEnd))
             {
-                tagHandles_ = defaultTags_;
+                tagHandles_ = defaultTagDirectives_;
                 immutable token = scanner_.peekToken();
 
                 states_ ~= &parseDocumentEnd;
@@ -369,14 +369,14 @@ final class Parser
                         enforce(h != handle, new Error("Duplicate tag handle: " ~ handle,
                                                        token.startMark));
                     }
-                    tagHandles_ ~= tuple(handle, parts[2]);
+                    tagHandles_ ~= tagDirective(handle, parts[2]);
                 }
             }
 
             TagDirectives value = tagHandles_.length == 0 ? TagDirectives() : TagDirectives(tagHandles_);
 
             //Add any default tag handles that haven't been overridden.
-            foreach(ref defaultPair; defaultTags_)
+            foreach(ref defaultPair; defaultTagDirectives_)
             {
                 bool found = false;
                 foreach(ref pair; tagHandles_)
diff --git a/dyaml/tagdirectives.d b/dyaml/tagdirectives.d
index 28e223d..5aa3e7c 100644
--- a/dyaml/tagdirectives.d
+++ b/dyaml/tagdirectives.d
@@ -11,15 +11,17 @@ import std.typecons;
 
 import dyaml.sharedobject;
 
+///Single tag directive. handle is the shortcut, prefix is the prefix that replaces it.
+alias Tuple!(string, "handle", string, "prefix") tagDirective;
 
 ///Tag directives stored in Event.
 struct TagDirectives
 {
     public:
-        mixin SharedObject!(Tuple!(string, string)[], TagDirectives);
+        mixin SharedObject!(tagDirective[], TagDirectives);
 
         ///Construct a tags object from an array of tag directives.
-        this(Tuple!(string, string)[] tagDirectives)
+        this(tagDirective[] tagDirectives)
         {
             add(tagDirectives);
         }