diff --git a/tests/support/server.tcl b/tests/support/server.tcl
index 551e24d1..07e5e8ad 100644
--- a/tests/support/server.tcl
+++ b/tests/support/server.tcl
@@ -236,11 +236,10 @@ proc start_server {options {code undefined}} {
             exit 1
         }
 
+        set ::tags [lrange $::tags 0 end-[llength $tags]]
         kill_server $srv
     } else {
+        set ::tags [lrange $::tags 0 end-[llength $tags]]
         set _ $srv
     }
-
-    # remove tags
-    set ::tags [lrange $::tags 0 end-[llength $tags]]
 }