diff --git a/mesonbuild/build.py b/mesonbuild/build.py
index 138f1ae03233..5bf1756d2c3f 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/build.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/build.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 from .mesonlib import (
     HoldableObject, SecondLevelHolder,
     File, MesonException, MachineChoice, PerMachine, OrderedSet, listify,
-    extract_as_list, typeslistify, stringlistify, classify_unity_sources,
+    extract_as_list, typeslistify, classify_unity_sources,
     get_filenames_templates_dict, substitute_values, has_path_sep,
     is_parent_path, relpath, PerMachineDefaultable,
     MesonBugException, EnvironmentVariables, pickle_load, lazy_property,
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class BuildTargetKeywordArguments(TypedDict, total=False):
         install_dir: T.List[T.Union[str, Literal[False]]]
         install_mode: FileMode
         install_rpath: str
-        install_tag: T.List[str]
+        install_tag: T.List[T.Optional[str]]
         language_args: T.DefaultDict[str, T.List[str]]
         link_args: T.List[str]
         link_depends: T.List[T.Union[str, File, CustomTarget, CustomTargetIndex]]
@@ -1295,7 +1295,7 @@ def process_kwargs(self, kwargs: BuildTargetKeywordArguments) -> None:
         self.install_dir = typeslistify(kwargs.get('install_dir', []),
                                         (str, bool))
         self.install_mode = kwargs.get('install_mode', None)
-        self.install_tag = stringlistify(kwargs.get('install_tag', [None]))
+        self.install_tag: T.List[T.Optional[str]] = kwargs.get('install_tag') or [None]
         self.extra_files = kwargs.get('extra_files', [])
         self.install_rpath: str = kwargs.get('install_rpath', '')
         self.build_rpath = kwargs.get('build_rpath', '')
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
index 56659460a844..e3d321e9ad64 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
@@ -3553,6 +3553,8 @@ def build_target(self, node: mparser.BaseNode, args: T.Tuple[str, SourcesVarargs
             if isinstance(kwargs['implib'], bool):
                 kwargs['implib'] = None
 
+        kwargs['install_tag'] = [kwargs['install_tag']]
+
         target = targetclass(name, self.subdir, self.subproject, for_machine, srcs, struct, objs,
                              self.environment, self.compilers[for_machine], kwargs)
         if objs and target.uses_rust():
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py
index 4935973d95d4..1e206422fece 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py
@@ -341,6 +341,7 @@ class _BaseBuildTarget(TypedDict):
     gnu_symbol_visibility: str
     install: bool
     install_mode: FileMode
+    install_tag: T.Optional[str]
     install_rpath: str
     implicit_include_directories: bool
     link_depends: T.List[T.Union[str, File, build.GeneratedTypes]]
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py
index 28280a996538..b5f741ea02b8 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py
@@ -614,6 +614,7 @@ def _extra_files_validator(args: T.List[T.Union[File, str]]) -> T.Optional[str]:
         feature_validator=_target_install_feature_validator,
     ),
     INSTALL_MODE_KW,
+    INSTALL_TAG_KW,
     KwargInfo('implicit_include_directories', bool, default=True, since='0.42.0'),
     NATIVE_KW,
     KwargInfo('resources', ContainerTypeInfo(list, str), default=[], listify=True),