diff --git a/commands/tag.go b/commands/tag.go
index a5529024..be3366ca 100644
--- a/commands/tag.go
+++ b/commands/tag.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package commands
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/docker/model-cli/desktop"
 	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/name"
@@ -33,20 +34,21 @@ func newTagCmd() *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 func tagModel(cmd *cobra.Command, desktopClient *desktop.Client, source, target string) error {
-	// Parse the target to extract repo and tag
+	// Ensure tag is valid
 	tag, err := name.NewTag(target)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid tag: %w", err)
 	}
-	targetRepo := tag.Repository.String()
-	targetTag := tag.TagStr()
-
-	// Make the POST request
-	resp, err := desktopClient.Tag(source, targetRepo, targetTag)
-	if err != nil {
+	// Make tag request with model runner client
+	if err := desktopClient.Tag(source, parseRepo(tag), tag.TagStr()); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to tag model: %w", err)
 	}
-
-	cmd.Println(resp)
+	cmd.Printf("Model %q tagged successfully with %q\n", source, target)
 	return nil
 }
+
+// parseRepo returns the repo portion of the original target string. It does not include implicit
+// index.docker.io when the registry is omitted.
+func parseRepo(tag name.Tag) string {
+	return strings.TrimSuffix(tag.String(), ":"+tag.TagStr())
+}
diff --git a/desktop/desktop.go b/desktop/desktop.go
index 6506d308..7a240509 100644
--- a/desktop/desktop.go
+++ b/desktop/desktop.go
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ func (c *Client) handleQueryError(err error, path string) error {
 	return fmt.Errorf("error querying %s: %w", path, err)
 }
 
-func (c *Client) Tag(source, targetRepo, targetTag string) (string, error) {
+func (c *Client) Tag(source, targetRepo, targetTag string) error {
 	source = normalizeHuggingFaceModelName(source)
 	// Check if the source is a model ID, and expand it if necessary
 	if !strings.Contains(strings.Trim(source, "/"), "/") {
@@ -625,19 +625,17 @@ func (c *Client) Tag(source, targetRepo, targetTag string) (string, error) {
 
 	resp, err := c.doRequest(http.MethodPost, tagPath, nil)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", c.handleQueryError(err, tagPath)
+		return c.handleQueryError(err, tagPath)
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
-
-	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusCreated {
-		body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("tagging failed with status %s: %s", resp.Status, string(body))
-	}
-
 	body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to read response body: %w", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to read response body: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	return string(body), nil
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusCreated {
+		return fmt.Errorf("tagging failed with status %s: %s", resp.Status, string(body))
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/desktop/desktop_test.go b/desktop/desktop_test.go
index 71ea9b9f..78c32893 100644
--- a/desktop/desktop_test.go
+++ b/desktop/desktop_test.go
@@ -193,8 +193,7 @@ func TestTagHuggingFaceModel(t *testing.T) {
 		Body:       io.NopCloser(bytes.NewBufferString("Tag created successfully")),
 	}, nil)
 
-	_, err := client.Tag(sourceModel, targetRepo, targetTag)
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.NoError(t, client.Tag(sourceModel, targetRepo, targetTag))
 }
 
 func TestInspectOpenAIHuggingFaceModel(t *testing.T) {