diff --git src/wp-admin/js/tags-box.js src/wp-admin/js/tags-box.js
index c610aaa..9ca41e8 100644
--- src/wp-admin/js/tags-box.js
+++ src/wp-admin/js/tags-box.js
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@ var tagBox, array_unique_noempty;
 				newtag = $( 'input.newtag', el ),
 				comma = window.tagsBoxL10n.tagDelimiter;
 
+			// Tags aren't editable, flush not required
+			if ( ! newtag.length ) {
+				return;
+			}
+
 			a = a || false;
 
 			text = a ? $(a).text() : newtag.val();