diff --git a/ecs-cli/modules/cli/cluster/cluster_app.go b/ecs-cli/modules/cli/cluster/cluster_app.go
index 7029b0a09..f84a46b96 100644
--- a/ecs-cli/modules/cli/cluster/cluster_app.go
+++ b/ecs-cli/modules/cli/cluster/cluster_app.go
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ func createCluster(context *cli.Context, awsClients *AWSClients, commandConfig *
 
 	tags := make([]*ecs.Tag, 0)
 	if tagVal := context.String(flags.ResourceTagsFlag); tagVal != "" {
-		tags, err = utils.GetTags(tagVal, tags)
+		tags, err = utils.ParseTags(tagVal, tags)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ func createEmptyCluster(context *cli.Context, ecsClient ecsclient.ECSClient, cfn
 	tags := make([]*ecs.Tag, 0)
 	var err error
 	if tagVal := context.String(flags.ResourceTagsFlag); tagVal != "" {
-		tags, err = utils.GetTags(tagVal, tags)
+		tags, err = utils.ParseTags(tagVal, tags)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/ecs-cli/modules/utils/utils.go b/ecs-cli/modules/utils/utils.go
index 3b0c65615..8ad81f219 100644
--- a/ecs-cli/modules/utils/utils.go
+++ b/ecs-cli/modules/utils/utils.go
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ func EntityAlreadyExists(err error) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-// GetTags parses AWS Resource tags from the flag value
+// ParseTags parses AWS Resource tags from the flag value
 // users specify tags in this format: key1=value1,key2=value2,key3=value3
-func GetTags(flagValue string, tags []*ecs.Tag) ([]*ecs.Tag, error) {
+func ParseTags(flagValue string, tags []*ecs.Tag) ([]*ecs.Tag, error) {
 	keyValPairs := strings.Split(flagValue, ",")
 	for _, kv := range keyValPairs {
 		pair := strings.Split(kv, "=")
diff --git a/ecs-cli/modules/utils/utils_test.go b/ecs-cli/modules/utils/utils_test.go
index 3fc470535..0b903d516 100644
--- a/ecs-cli/modules/utils/utils_test.go
+++ b/ecs-cli/modules/utils/utils_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/ecs"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
@@ -51,6 +53,54 @@ func TestGetHomeDirInWindows(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NoError(t, err, "Unexpected error getting home dir")
 }
 
+func TestParseTags(t *testing.T) {
+	actualTags := make([]*ecs.Tag, 0)
+	expectedTags := []*ecs.Tag{
+		&ecs.Tag{
+			Key:   aws.String("Pink"),
+			Value: aws.String("Floyd"),
+		},
+		&ecs.Tag{
+			Key:   aws.String("Tame"),
+			Value: aws.String("Impala"),
+		},
+	}
+
+	var err error
+	actualTags, err = ParseTags("Pink=Floyd,Tame=Impala", actualTags)
+	assert.NoError(t, err, "Unexpected error calling ParseTags")
+	assert.ElementsMatch(t, actualTags, expectedTags, "Expected tags to match")
+
+}
+
+func TestParseTagsEmptyValue(t *testing.T) {
+	actualTags := make([]*ecs.Tag, 0)
+	expectedTags := []*ecs.Tag{
+		&ecs.Tag{
+			Key:   aws.String("thecheese"),
+			Value: aws.String(""),
+		},
+		&ecs.Tag{
+			Key:   aws.String("standsalone"),
+			Value: aws.String(""),
+		},
+	}
+
+	var err error
+	actualTags, err = ParseTags("thecheese=,standsalone=", actualTags)
+	assert.NoError(t, err, "Unexpected error calling ParseTags")
+	assert.ElementsMatch(t, actualTags, expectedTags, "Expected tags to match")
+
+}
+
+func TestParseTagInvalidFormat(t *testing.T) {
+	actualTags := make([]*ecs.Tag, 0)
+
+	var err error
+	_, err = ParseTags("incorrectly=formatted,tags", actualTags)
+	assert.Error(t, err, "Expected error calling ParseTags")
+}
+
 func tempDir(t *testing.T) string {
 	// Create a temprorary directory for the dummy ecs config
 	tempDirName, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "test")