diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/RequiredManifestValueValidator.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/RequiredManifestValueValidator.cs
index 757e09f30f..33c2c02cb6 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/RequiredManifestValueValidator.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/RequiredManifestValueValidator.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,15 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.PropertyEditors
             else
             {
                 var asString = value.ToString();
+
+                if (editor.ValueEditor.ValueType.InvariantEquals("JSON"))
+                {
+                    if (asString.DetectIsEmptyJson())
+                    {
+                        yield return new ValidationResult("Value cannot be empty", new[] { "value" });
+                    }
+                }
+
                 if (asString.IsNullOrWhiteSpace())
                 {
                     yield return new ValidationResult("Value cannot be empty", new[] { "value" });
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/tags/tags.controller.js b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/tags/tags.controller.js
index 62cf96a894..4577430195 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/tags/tags.controller.js
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/tags/tags.controller.js
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ angular.module("umbraco")
                 if (tagToAdd.length > 0) {
                     if ($scope.currentTags.indexOf(tagToAdd) < 0) {                       
                         $scope.currentTags.push(tagToAdd);
+                        //update the model value, this is required if there's a server validation error, it can
+                        // only then be cleared if the model changes
+                        $scope.model.value = $scope.currentTags;
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -66,6 +69,9 @@ angular.module("umbraco")
                 var i = $scope.currentTags.indexOf(tag);
                 if (i >= 0) {
                     $scope.currentTags.splice(i, 1);
+                    //update the model value, this is required if there's a server validation error, it can
+                    // only then be cleared if the model changes
+                    $scope.model.value = $scope.currentTags;
                 }
             };
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/TagsPropertyEditor.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/TagsPropertyEditor.cs
index 49fb5ddbc4..581186f61d 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/TagsPropertyEditor.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/TagsPropertyEditor.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
@@ -61,6 +62,61 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.PropertyEditors
                 var json = editorValue.Value as JArray;
                 return json == null ? null : json.Select(x => x.Value<string>());
             }
+
+            /// <summary>
+            /// Returns the validator used for the required field validation which is specified on the PropertyType
+            /// </summary>
+            /// <remarks>
+            /// This will become legacy as soon as we implement overridable pre-values.
+            /// 
+            /// The default validator used is the RequiredValueValidator but this can be overridden by property editors
+            /// if they need to do some custom validation, or if the value being validated is a json object.
+            /// </remarks>
+            internal override ManifestValueValidator RequiredValidator
+            {
+                get { return new RequiredTagsValueValidator(); }
+            }
+            
+            /// <summary>
+            /// Custom validator to validate a required value against an empty json value
+            /// </summary>
+            /// <remarks>
+            /// This is required because the Tags property editor is not of type 'JSON', it's just string so the underlying
+            /// validator does not validate against an empty json string
+            /// </remarks>
+            [ValueValidator("Required")]
+            private class RequiredTagsValueValidator : ManifestValueValidator
+            {
+                /// <summary>
+                /// Validates a null value or an empty json value
+                /// </summary>
+                /// <param name="value"></param>
+                /// <param name="config"></param>
+                /// <param name="preValues"></param>
+                /// <param name="editor"></param>
+                /// <returns></returns>
+                public override IEnumerable<ValidationResult> Validate(object value, string config, PreValueCollection preValues, PropertyEditor editor)
+                {
+                    if (value == null)
+                    {
+                        yield return new ValidationResult("Value cannot be null", new[] { "value" });
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        var asString = value.ToString();
+
+                        if (asString.DetectIsEmptyJson())
+                        {
+                            yield return new ValidationResult("Value cannot be empty", new[] { "value" });
+                        }
+
+                        if (asString.IsNullOrWhiteSpace())
+                        {
+                            yield return new ValidationResult("Value cannot be empty", new[] { "value" });
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         internal class TagPreValueEditor : PreValueEditor