diff --git a/gst/gsttaglist.c b/gst/gsttaglist.c
index 3f5d47e9dc..f5ce995dca 100644
--- a/gst/gsttaglist.c
+++ b/gst/gsttaglist.c
@@ -1378,6 +1378,7 @@ void
 gst_tag_list_remove_tag (GstTagList * list, const gchar * tag)
 {
   g_return_if_fail (GST_IS_TAG_LIST (list));
+  g_return_if_fail (gst_tag_list_is_writable (list));
   g_return_if_fail (tag != NULL);
 
   gst_structure_remove_field (GST_TAG_LIST_STRUCTURE (list), tag);