diff --git a/api/components/com_content/src/Controller/ArticlesController.php b/api/components/com_content/src/Controller/ArticlesController.php
index 647d0afb6532f..bd906434f06b7 100644
--- a/api/components/com_content/src/Controller/ArticlesController.php
+++ b/api/components/com_content/src/Controller/ArticlesController.php
@@ -115,9 +115,11 @@ protected function preprocessSaveData(array $data): array
             }
         }
 
-        $tags = new TagsHelper();
-        $tags->getTagIds($data['id'], 'com_content.article');
-        $data['tags'] = explode(',', $tags->tags);
+        if (($this->input->getMethod() === 'PATCH') && !(\array_key_exists('tags', $data))) {
+            $tags = new TagsHelper();
+            $tags->getTagIds($data['id'], 'com_content.article');
+            $data['tags'] = explode(',', $tags->tags);
+        }
 
         return $data;
     }