diff --git a/etiquette/photodb.py b/etiquette/photodb.py
index e2c2acf..570cc4c 100644
--- a/etiquette/photodb.py
+++ b/etiquette/photodb.py
@@ -831,7 +831,11 @@ class PDBTagMixin:
 
         tagname = tagname.strip('.+')
         tagname = tagname.split('.')[-1].split('+')[0]
-        tagname = self.normalize_tagname(tagname)
+
+        try:
+            tagname = self.normalize_tagname(tagname)
+        except (exceptions.TagTooShort, exceptions.TagTooLong):
+            raise exceptions.NoSuchTag(tagname)
 
         cur = self.sql.cursor()
         while True:
diff --git a/etiquette/searchhelpers.py b/etiquette/searchhelpers.py
index 088eed5..6db8c2a 100644
--- a/etiquette/searchhelpers.py
+++ b/etiquette/searchhelpers.py
@@ -423,12 +423,7 @@ def normalize_tag_mmf(tags, photodb, warning_bag=None):
 
         try:
             tag = photodb.get_tag(name=tag)
-            exc = None
-        except exceptions.NoSuchTag as e:
-            exc = e
-        except (exceptions.TagTooShort, exceptions.TagTooLong) as e:
-            exc = exceptions.NoSuchTag(tag)
-        if exc is not None:
+        except exceptions.NoSuchTag as exc:
             if warning_bag:
                 warning_bag.add(exc.error_message)
                 continue