diff --git a/pipeline_api/pipeline_api.go b/pipeline_api/pipeline_api.go
index 6de05f0..02ef243 100644
--- a/pipeline_api/pipeline_api.go
+++ b/pipeline_api/pipeline_api.go
@@ -64,11 +64,13 @@ func (s *ApiServer) GetRunner(
 	}
 
 	var runnerTagsStr strings.Builder
-	fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, "[%v", req.Msg.Tags[0])
-	for _, tag := range req.Msg.Tags[1:] {
-		fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, ", %v", tag)
+	if len(req.Msg.Tags) > 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, "[%v", req.Msg.Tags[0])
+		for _, tag := range req.Msg.Tags[1:] {
+			fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, ", %v", tag)
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, "]")
 	}
-	fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, "]")
 
 	response := <-respChan
 	if response.Err != nil {
diff --git a/runnermanager/runnermanager.go b/runnermanager/runnermanager.go
index 8a06f6b..9b4d9b3 100644
--- a/runnermanager/runnermanager.go
+++ b/runnermanager/runnermanager.go
@@ -52,11 +52,13 @@ type runnerJob struct {
 
 func (r *runnerManager) processRequest(req GetRunnerRequest) {
 	var runnerTagsStr strings.Builder
-	fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, "[%v", req.Tags[0])
-	for _, tag := range req.Tags[1:] {
-		fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, ", %v", tag)
+	if len(req.Tags) > 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, "[%v", req.Tags[0])
+		for _, tag := range req.Tags[1:] {
+			fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, ", %v", tag)
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, "]")
 	}
-	fmt.Fprintf(&runnerTagsStr, "]")
 	log.Infof("Got request for runner with tags \"%v\"", runnerTagsStr.String())
 
 	log.Debugf("Finding runner with tags %v", runnerTagsStr.String())