diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/render-tag.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/render-tag.js.es6
index d5e491661a3..7a836786080 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/render-tag.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/render-tag.js.es6
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ function defaultRenderTag(tag, params) {
   const tagName = params.tagName || "a";
   let path;
   if (tagName === "a" && !params.noHref) {
-    if (params.isPrivateMessage && User.current()) {
+    if ((params.isPrivateMessage || params.pmOnly) && User.current()) {
       const username = params.tagsForUser
         ? params.tagsForUser
         : User.current().username;
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/components/tag-list.hbs b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/components/tag-list.hbs
index 24adf8aa0ee..dcbb0035e45 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/components/tag-list.hbs
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/components/tag-list.hbs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 {{/if}}
 {{#each sortedTags as |tag|}}
   <div class='tag-box'>
-    {{discourse-tag tag.id isPrivateMessage=isPrivateMessage tagsForUser=tagsForUser}} {{#if tag.pmOnly}}{{d-icon "far-envelope"}}{{/if}}{{#if tag.totalCount}} <span class='tag-count'>x {{tag.totalCount}}</span>{{/if}}
+    {{discourse-tag tag.id isPrivateMessage=isPrivateMessage pmOnly=tag.pmOnly tagsForUser=tagsForUser}} {{#if tag.pmOnly}}{{d-icon "far-envelope"}}{{/if}}{{#if tag.totalCount}} <span class='tag-count'>x {{tag.totalCount}}</span>{{/if}}
   </div>
 {{/each}}
 <div class="clearfix" />
diff --git a/test/javascripts/acceptance/tags-test.js.es6 b/test/javascripts/acceptance/tags-test.js.es6
index deab78fe80b..7dad65494c2 100644
--- a/test/javascripts/acceptance/tags-test.js.es6
+++ b/test/javascripts/acceptance/tags-test.js.es6
@@ -25,7 +25,10 @@ QUnit.test("list the tags in groups", async assert => {
       200,
       { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
       {
-        tags: [{ id: "planned", text: "planned", count: 7, pm_count: 0 }],
+        tags: [
+          { id: "planned", text: "planned", count: 7, pm_count: 0 },
+          { id: "private", text: "private", count: 0, pm_count: 7 }
+        ],
         extras: {
           tag_groups: [
             {
@@ -91,6 +94,11 @@ QUnit.test("list the tags in groups", async assert => {
     ["/tags/focus", "/tags/escort"],
     "always uses lowercase URLs for mixed case tags"
   );
+  assert.equal(
+    $("a[data-tag-name='private']").attr("href"),
+    "/u/eviltrout/messages/tags/private",
+    "links to private messages"
+  );
 });
 
 test("new topic button is not available for staff-only tags", async assert => {