diff --git a/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-api/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/api/MgmtTargetRestApi.java b/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-api/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/api/MgmtTargetRestApi.java
index 89fa7a9f9..35f1277dc 100644
--- a/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-api/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/api/MgmtTargetRestApi.java
+++ b/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-api/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/api/MgmtTargetRestApi.java
@@ -724,7 +724,6 @@ public interface MgmtTargetRestApi {
     @Operation(summary = "Return tags for specific target", description = "Get a paged list of tags for a target. Required permission: READ_REPOSITORY")
     @ApiResponses(value = {
             @ApiResponse(responseCode = "200", description = "Successfully retrieved"),
-            @ApiResponse(responseCode = "204", description = "No tags"),
             @ApiResponse(responseCode = "401", description = "The request requires user authentication.",
                     content = @Content(mediaType = "application/json", schema = @Schema(hidden = true))),
             @ApiResponse(responseCode = "403",
diff --git a/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtTargetResource.java b/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtTargetResource.java
index c0602f50e..ffa81d5b4 100644
--- a/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtTargetResource.java
+++ b/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/main/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtTargetResource.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ package org.eclipse.hawkbit.mgmt.rest.resource;
 
 import java.util.AbstractMap.SimpleEntry;
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Map.Entry;
@@ -397,11 +398,8 @@ public class MgmtTargetResource implements MgmtTargetRestApi {
     @Override
     public ResponseEntity<List<MgmtTag>> getTags(@PathVariable("targetId") String targetId) {
         final Set<TargetTag> tags = targetManagement.getTagsByControllerId(targetId);
-        if (tags.isEmpty()) {
-            return ResponseEntity.noContent().build();
-        } else {
-            return ResponseEntity.ok(MgmtTagMapper.toResponse(tags.stream().toList()));
-        }
+        return ResponseEntity.ok(
+                MgmtTagMapper.toResponse(tags == null ? Collections.emptyList() : tags.stream().toList()));
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/test/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtTargetResourceTest.java b/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/test/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtTargetResourceTest.java
index 2703ee3c8..ea42bfbfa 100644
--- a/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/test/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtTargetResourceTest.java
+++ b/hawkbit-rest/hawkbit-mgmt-resource/src/test/java/org/eclipse/hawkbit/mgmt/rest/resource/MgmtTargetResourceTest.java
@@ -1898,22 +1898,17 @@ class MgmtTargetResourceTest extends AbstractManagementApiIntegrationTest {
     }
 
     @Test
-    void getControllerTagReturnsTagWithNoContent() throws Exception {
-        // create target with attributes
-        final String knownTargetId = "targetIdWithNoTags";
-        final Target target = testdataFactory.createTarget(knownTargetId);
-
-        // test query target over rest resource
-        mvc.perform(get(MgmtRestConstants.TARGET_V1_REQUEST_MAPPING + "/" + knownTargetId + "/tags"))
-                .andDo(MockMvcResultPrinter.print())
-                .andExpect(status().isNoContent());
-    }
-
-    @Test
-    void getControllerTagReturnsTagWithOk() throws Exception {
+    void getControllerTagReturnsTagsWithOk() throws Exception {
         // create target with attributes
         final String knownTargetId = "targetIdWithTags";
         final Target target = testdataFactory.createTarget(knownTargetId);
+
+        // test query target over rest resource with no tags - expect OK with empty list
+        mvc.perform(get(MgmtRestConstants.TARGET_V1_REQUEST_MAPPING + "/" + knownTargetId + "/tags"))
+                .andDo(MockMvcResultPrinter.print())
+                .andExpect(status().isOk())
+                .andExpect(jsonPath("$", Matchers.hasSize(0)));
+
         final List<TargetTag> targetTags = testdataFactory.createTargetTags(2, "tag_getControllerTagReturnsTagWithOk");
         final List<String> tagNames = new ArrayList<>();
         for (final TargetTag targetTag : targetTags) {
@@ -1921,7 +1916,7 @@ class MgmtTargetResourceTest extends AbstractManagementApiIntegrationTest {
             tagNames.add(targetTag.getName());
         }
 
-        // test query target over rest resource
+        // test query target over rest resource with 2 tags - expect OK with 2 tags the target is tagged with
         mvc.perform(get(MgmtRestConstants.TARGET_V1_REQUEST_MAPPING + "/" + knownTargetId + "/tags"))
                 .andDo(MockMvcResultPrinter.print())
                 .andExpect(status().isOk())