diff --git a/client/src/controllers/TagController.test.js b/client/src/controllers/TagController.test.js
index e5edad4800..9bd44dee5f 100644
--- a/client/src/controllers/TagController.test.js
+++ b/client/src/controllers/TagController.test.js
@@ -1,33 +1,35 @@
 import $ from 'jquery';
 
+import { Application } from '@hotwired/stimulus';
+import { TagController } from './TagController';
+
+const flushPromises = () => new Promise(setImmediate);
+
 window.$ = $;
 
-import { initTagField } from './TagController';
-
-describe('initTagField', () => {
+describe('TagController', () => {
+  let application;
   let element;
 
-  const tagitMock = jest.fn(function tagitMockInner() {
+  const tagitMock = jest.fn(function innerFunction() {
     element = this;
   });
 
   window.$.fn.tagit = tagitMock;
 
+  element = null;
+
   beforeEach(() => {
     element = null;
     jest.clearAllMocks();
   });
 
-  it('should not call jQuery tagit if the element is not found', () => {
+  it('should create a global initTagField to call jQuery tagit if the element is found', async () => {
+    expect(window.initTagField).toBeUndefined();
     expect(tagitMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 
-    initTagField('not-present');
-
-    expect(tagitMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-  });
-
-  it('should call jQuery tagit if the element is found', () => {
-    expect(tagitMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    application = Application.start();
+    application.register('w-tag', TagController);
 
     document.body.innerHTML = `
     <main>
@@ -35,10 +37,12 @@ describe('initTagField', () => {
     </main>
     `;
 
-    initTagField('tag-input', '/path/to/autocomplete/', {
+    window.initTagField('tag-input', '/path/to/autocomplete/', {
       someOther: 'option',
     });
 
+    await flushPromises();
+
     // check the jQuery instance is the correct element
     expect(element).toContain(document.getElementById('tag-input'));
 
@@ -59,4 +63,60 @@ describe('initTagField', () => {
     expect(preprocessTag('"flat white"')).toEqual(`"flat white"`);
     expect(preprocessTag("'long black'")).toEqual(`"'long black'"`);
   });
+
+  it('should not call jQuery tagit if the element is not found', async () => {
+    expect(tagitMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+
+    window.initTagField('not-present');
+
+    await flushPromises();
+
+    expect(tagitMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('should attach the jQuery tagit to the controlled element', async () => {
+    document.body.innerHTML = `
+  <form id="form">
+    <input
+      id="id_tags"
+      type="text"
+      name="tags"
+      data-controller="w-tag"
+      data-action="example:event->w-tag#clear"
+      data-w-tag-options-value="{&quot;allowSpaces&quot;:true,&quot;tagLimit&quot;:10}"
+      data-w-tag-url-value="/admin/tag-autocomplete/"
+    >
+  </form>`;
+
+    expect(tagitMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+
+    await flushPromises();
+
+    expect(tagitMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      allowSpaces: true,
+      autocomplete: { source: '/admin/tag-autocomplete/' },
+      preprocessTag: expect.any(Function),
+      tagLimit: 10,
+    });
+
+    expect(element[0]).toEqual(document.getElementById('id_tags'));
+
+    // check the supplied preprocessTag function
+    const [{ preprocessTag }] = tagitMock.mock.calls[0];
+
+    expect(preprocessTag).toBeInstanceOf(Function);
+
+    expect(preprocessTag()).toEqual();
+    expect(preprocessTag('"flat white"')).toEqual(`"flat white"`);
+    expect(preprocessTag("'long black'")).toEqual(`"'long black'"`);
+    expect(preprocessTag('caffe latte')).toEqual(`"caffe latte"`);
+
+    // check the custom clear behaviour
+    document
+      .getElementById('id_tags')
+      .dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('example:event'));
+
+    await flushPromises();
+    expect(tagitMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith('removeAll');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/client/src/controllers/TagController.ts b/client/src/controllers/TagController.ts
index c714b42432..818df13419 100644
--- a/client/src/controllers/TagController.ts
+++ b/client/src/controllers/TagController.ts
@@ -1,42 +1,93 @@
 import $ from 'jquery';
 
+import { Controller } from '@hotwired/stimulus';
+import type { Application } from '@hotwired/stimulus';
+import { domReady } from '../utils/domReady';
+
 declare global {
   interface JQuery {
-    tagit(...args): void;
+    tagit: (options: Record<string, any> | string) => void;
+  }
+
+  interface Window {
+    initTagField: (
+      id: string,
+      url: string,
+      options?: Record<string, any>,
+    ) => void;
   }
 }
 
 /**
- * Initialises the tag fields using the jQuery tagit widget
+ * Attach the jQuery tagit UI to the controlled element.
  *
- * @param id - element id to initialise against
- * @param source -  auto complete URL source
- * @param options - Other options passed to jQuery tagit
+ * See https://github.com/aehlke/tag-it
+ *
+ * @example
+ * <input id="id_tags" type="text" name="tags" data-controller="w-tag" data-w-tag-url-value="/admin/tag-autocomplete/" />
  */
-const initTagField = (
-  id: string,
-  source: string,
-  options: Record<string, any>,
-): void => {
-  const tagFieldElement = document.getElementById(id);
-
-  if (!tagFieldElement) return;
-
-  const finalOptions = {
-    autocomplete: { source },
-    preprocessTag(val: any) {
-      // Double quote a tag if it contains a space
-      // and if it isn't already quoted.
-      if (val && val[0] !== '"' && val.indexOf(' ') > -1) {
-        return '"' + val + '"';
-      }
-
-      return val;
-    },
-    ...options,
+export class TagController extends Controller {
+  static values = {
+    options: { default: {}, type: Object },
+    url: String,
   };
 
-  $('#' + id).tagit(finalOptions);
-};
+  declare optionsValue: any;
+  declare urlValue: any;
+  tagit?: JQuery<HTMLElement>;
 
-export { initTagField };
+  /**
+   * Prepare a global function that preserves the previous approach to
+   * registering a tagit field. This will be removed in a future release.
+   *
+   * @deprecated RemovedInWagtail60
+   */
+  static afterLoad(
+    identifier: string,
+    { schema: { controllerAttribute } }: Application,
+  ) {
+    window.initTagField = (id, url, options = {}): void => {
+      domReady().then(() => {
+        const tagFieldElement = document.getElementById(id);
+
+        if (!tagFieldElement || !url) return;
+
+        Object.entries({ options: JSON.stringify(options), url }).forEach(
+          ([name, value]) => {
+            tagFieldElement.setAttribute(
+              `data-${identifier}-${name}-value`,
+              value,
+            );
+          },
+        );
+
+        tagFieldElement.setAttribute(controllerAttribute, identifier);
+      });
+    };
+  }
+
+  connect() {
+    const preprocessTag = this.cleanTag.bind(this);
+
+    $(this.element).tagit({
+      autocomplete: { source: this.urlValue },
+      preprocessTag,
+      ...this.optionsValue,
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Double quote a tag if it contains a space
+   * and if it isn't already quoted.
+   */
+  cleanTag(val: string) {
+    return val && val[0] !== '"' && val.indexOf(' ') > -1 ? `"${val}"` : val;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Method to clear all the tags that are set.
+   */
+  clear() {
+    $(this.element).tagit('removeAll');
+  }
+}
diff --git a/client/src/controllers/index.ts b/client/src/controllers/index.ts
index 4dd8eafa6d..e10ebab0e0 100644
--- a/client/src/controllers/index.ts
+++ b/client/src/controllers/index.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { SkipLinkController } from './SkipLinkController';
 import { SlugController } from './SlugController';
 import { SubmitController } from './SubmitController';
 import { SyncController } from './SyncController';
+import { TagController } from './TagController';
 import { UpgradeController } from './UpgradeController';
 
 /**
@@ -32,5 +33,6 @@ export const coreControllerDefinitions: Definition[] = [
   { controllerConstructor: SlugController, identifier: 'w-slug' },
   { controllerConstructor: SubmitController, identifier: 'w-submit' },
   { controllerConstructor: SyncController, identifier: 'w-sync' },
+  { controllerConstructor: TagController, identifier: 'w-tag' },
   { controllerConstructor: UpgradeController, identifier: 'w-upgrade' },
 ];
diff --git a/client/src/entrypoints/admin/core.js b/client/src/entrypoints/admin/core.js
index 6fc323a25e..95faf73590 100644
--- a/client/src/entrypoints/admin/core.js
+++ b/client/src/entrypoints/admin/core.js
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import $ from 'jquery';
 import { coreControllerDefinitions } from '../../controllers';
 import { escapeHtml } from '../../utils/text';
 import { initStimulus } from '../../includes/initStimulus';
-import { initTagField } from '../../includes/initTagField';
 import { initTooltips } from '../../includes/initTooltips';
 
 /** initialise Wagtail Stimulus application with core controller definitions */
@@ -11,8 +10,6 @@ window.Stimulus = initStimulus({ definitions: coreControllerDefinitions });
 
 window.escapeHtml = escapeHtml;
 
-window.initTagField = initTagField;
-
 /*
  * Enables a "dirty form check", prompting the user if they are navigating away
  * from a page with unsaved changes, as well as optionally controlling other
diff --git a/client/src/utils/domReady.ts b/client/src/utils/domReady.ts
index 36edce2633..7ceae77820 100644
--- a/client/src/utils/domReady.ts
+++ b/client/src/utils/domReady.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,14 @@
 /**
  * Returns a promise that resolves once the DOM is ready for interaction.
  */
-const domReady = async () =>
-  new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
-    if (document.readyState === 'loading') {
-      document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => resolve(), {
-        once: true,
-        passive: true,
-      });
-    } else {
-      resolve();
-    }
+const domReady = async () => {
+  if (document.readyState !== 'loading') return;
+  await new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+    document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => resolve(), {
+      once: true,
+      passive: true,
+    });
   });
+};
 
 export { domReady };
diff --git a/docs/releases/5.1.md b/docs/releases/5.1.md
index bbdc2ddd05..df913cfe30 100644
--- a/docs/releases/5.1.md
+++ b/docs/releases/5.1.md
@@ -148,3 +148,36 @@ The ordering for "Object permissions" and "Other permissions" now follows a pred
 This will be different to the previous ordering which never intentionally implemented.
 
 This default ordering is now `["content_type__app_label", "content_type__model", "codename"]`, which can now be customised [](customising_group_views_permissions_order).
+
+### Tag (Tagit) field usage now relies on data attributes
+
+The `AdminTagWidget` widget has now been migrated to a Stimulus controller, if using this widget in Python, no changes are needed to adopt the new approach.
+
+If the widget is being instantiated in JavaScript or HTML with the global util `window.initTagField`, this undocumented util should be replaced with the new `data-*` attributes approach. Additionally, any direct usage of the jQuery widget in JavaScript (e.g. `$('#my-element).tagit()`) should be removed.
+
+The global util will be removed in a future release. It is recommended that the documented `AdminTagWidget` be used. However, if you need to use the JavaScript approach you can do this with the following example.
+
+**Old syntax**
+
+```html
+<input id="id_tags" type="text" value="popular, technology" hidden />
+<script>
+    window.initTagField('id_tags', 'path/to/url', { autocompleteOnly: true });
+</script>
+```
+
+**New syntax**
+
+```html
+<input
+    id="id_tags"
+    type="text"
+    value="popular, technology"
+    hidden
+    data-controller="w-tag"
+    data-w-tag-options-value='{"autocompleteOnly": true}'
+    data-w-tag-url-value="/path/to/url"
+/>
+```
+
+Note: The `data-w-tag-options-value` is a JSON object serialised into string. Django's HTML escaping will handle it automatically when you use the `AdminTagWidget`, but if you are manually writing the attributes, be sure to use quotation marks correctly.
diff --git a/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/widgets/tag_widget.html b/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/widgets/tag_widget.html
index 8be4998f91..4f79b01551 100644
--- a/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/widgets/tag_widget.html
+++ b/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/widgets/tag_widget.html
@@ -1,9 +1,2 @@
 {% include 'django/forms/widgets/text.html' %}
 <p class="help">{{ widget.help_text }}</p>
-<script>
-    initTagField(
-        "{{ widget.attrs.id|escapejs }}",
-        "{{ widget.autocomplete_url|escapejs }}",
-        {{ widget.options_json|safe }}
-    );
-</script>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/wagtail/admin/tests/test_edit_handlers.py b/wagtail/admin/tests/test_edit_handlers.py
index bfe8a39651..d17e3c3c7e 100644
--- a/wagtail/admin/tests/test_edit_handlers.py
+++ b/wagtail/admin/tests/test_edit_handlers.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ from django.core import checks
 from django.core.exceptions import FieldDoesNotExist, ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.test import RequestFactory, TestCase, override_settings
 from django.urls import reverse
-from django.utils.html import json_script
+from django.utils.html import escape, json_script
 from freezegun import freeze_time
 
 from wagtail.admin.forms import WagtailAdminModelForm, WagtailAdminPageForm
@@ -220,11 +220,14 @@ class TestGetFormForModel(TestCase):
             fields=["title", "slug", "tags"],
         )
         form_html = RestaurantPageForm().as_p()
-        self.assertIn("/admin/tag\\u002Dautocomplete/tests/restauranttag/", form_html)
+        self.assertIn(
+            'data-w-tag-url-value="/admin/tag-autocomplete/tests/restauranttag/"',
+            form_html,
+        )
 
         # widget should pick up the free_tagging=False attribute on the tag model
         # and set itself to autocomplete only
-        self.assertIn('"autocompleteOnly": true', form_html)
+        self.assertIn(escape('"autocompleteOnly": true'), form_html)
 
         # Free tagging should also be disabled at the form field validation level
         RestaurantTag.objects.create(name="Italian", slug="italian")
diff --git a/wagtail/admin/tests/test_widgets.py b/wagtail/admin/tests/test_widgets.py
index 9dc26109d2..74930a13cc 100644
--- a/wagtail/admin/tests/test_widgets.py
+++ b/wagtail/admin/tests/test_widgets.py
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 import json
+import re
+from html import unescape
 
 from django import forms
 from django.test import TestCase
 from django.test.utils import override_settings
+from django.utils.html import escape
 
 from wagtail.admin import widgets
 from wagtail.admin.forms.tags import TagField
@@ -387,30 +390,32 @@ class TestAdminDateTimeInput(TestCase):
 
 class TestAdminTagWidget(TestCase):
     def get_js_init_params(self, html):
-        """Returns a list of the params passed in to initTagField from the supplied HTML"""
-        # example - ["test_id", "/admin/tag-autocomplete/", {'allowSpaces': True}]
-        start = "initTagField("
-        end = ");"
-        items_after_init = html.split(start)[1]
-        if items_after_init:
-            params_raw = items_after_init.split(end)[0]
-            if params_raw:
-                # stuff parameter string into an array so that we can unpack it as JSON
-                return json.loads("[%s]" % params_raw)
-        return []
+        """
+        Returns a list of the key parts of data needed for the w-tag controlled element
+        An id for the element with the 'w-tag' controller, the autocomplete url & tag options
 
-    def get_help_text_html_element(self, html):
-        """Return a help text html element with content as string"""
-        start = """<input type="text" name="tags">"""
-        end = "<script>"
-        items_after_input_tag = html.split(start)[1]
-        if items_after_input_tag:
-            help_text_element = items_after_input_tag.split(end)[0].strip()
-            return help_text_element
-        return []
+        example element <input data-controller="w-tag" id="test_id" data-w-tag-url-value="/admin/tag-autocomplete/" data-w-tag-options-value="{...encoded json opts}" />
+        example result - ["test_id", "/admin/tag-autocomplete/", {'allowSpaces': True}]
+        """
+
+        element_id = re.search(
+            r'data-controller=\"w-tag\" id=\"((?:\\.|[^"\\])*)\"\s+', html
+        ).group(1)
+        autocomplete_url = re.search(
+            r'data-w-tag-url-value=\"((?:\\.|[^"\\])*)"', html
+        ).group(1)
+        options = re.search(
+            r'data-w-tag-options-value=\"((?:\\.|[^"\\])*)"', html
+        ).group(1)
+
+        return [
+            element_id,
+            autocomplete_url,
+            json.loads(unescape(options)),
+        ]
 
     def test_render_js_init_basic(self):
-        """Checks that the 'initTagField' is correctly added to the inline script for tag widgets"""
+        """Checks that the 'w-tag' controller attributes are correctly added to the tag widgets"""
         widget = widgets.AdminTagWidget()
 
         html = widget.render("tags", None, attrs={"id": "alpha"})
@@ -427,7 +432,7 @@ class TestAdminTagWidget(TestCase):
 
     @override_settings(TAG_SPACES_ALLOWED=False)
     def test_render_js_init_no_spaces_allowed(self):
-        """Checks that the 'initTagField' includes the correct value based on TAG_SPACES_ALLOWED in settings"""
+        """Checks that the 'w-tag' controller attributes are correctly added to the tag widgets based  on TAG_SPACES_ALLOWED in settings"""
         widget = widgets.AdminTagWidget()
 
         html = widget.render("tags", None, attrs={"id": "alpha"})
@@ -444,7 +449,8 @@ class TestAdminTagWidget(TestCase):
 
     @override_settings(TAG_LIMIT=5)
     def test_render_js_init_with_tag_limit(self):
-        """Checks that the 'initTagField' includes the correct value based on TAG_LIMIT in settings"""
+        """Checks that the 'w-tag' controller attributes are correctly added to the tag widget using options based on TAG_LIMIT in settings"""
+
         widget = widgets.AdminTagWidget()
 
         html = widget.render("tags", None, attrs={"id": "alpha"})
@@ -461,7 +467,8 @@ class TestAdminTagWidget(TestCase):
 
     def test_render_js_init_with_tag_model(self):
         """
-        Checks that 'initTagField' is passed the correct autocomplete URL for the custom model,
+        Checks that the 'w-tag' controller attributes are correctly added to the tag widget using
+        the correct autocomplete URL for the custom model,
         and sets autocompleteOnly according to that model's free_tagging attribute
         """
         widget = widgets.AdminTagWidget(tag_model=RestaurantTag)
@@ -517,16 +524,15 @@ class TestAdminTagWidget(TestCase):
         help_text = widget.get_context(None, None, {})["widget"]["help_text"]
 
         html = widget.render("tags", None, {})
-        help_text_html_element = self.get_help_text_html_element(html)
 
         self.assertEqual(
             help_text,
             'Multi-word tags with spaces will automatically be enclosed in double quotes (").',
         )
 
-        self.assertHTMLEqual(
-            help_text_html_element,
-            """<p class="help">%s</p>""" % help_text,
+        self.assertIn(
+            """<p class="help">%s</p>""" % escape(help_text),
+            html,
         )
 
     @override_settings(TAG_SPACES_ALLOWED=False)
@@ -536,15 +542,14 @@ class TestAdminTagWidget(TestCase):
         help_text = widget.get_context(None, None, {})["widget"]["help_text"]
 
         html = widget.render("tags", None, {})
-        help_text_html_element = self.get_help_text_html_element(html)
 
         self.assertEqual(
             help_text, "Tags can only consist of a single word, no spaces allowed."
         )
 
-        self.assertHTMLEqual(
-            help_text_html_element,
-            """<p class="help">%s</p>""" % help_text,
+        self.assertIn(
+            """<p class="help">%s</p>""" % escape(help_text),
+            html,
         )
 
 
diff --git a/wagtail/admin/widgets/tags.py b/wagtail/admin/widgets/tags.py
index 9257cd1bc3..b6fba3c64f 100644
--- a/wagtail/admin/widgets/tags.py
+++ b/wagtail/admin/widgets/tags.py
@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ class AdminTagWidget(TagWidget):
         self.tag_model = kwargs.pop("tag_model", Tag)
         # free_tagging = None means defer to the tag model's setting
         self.free_tagging = kwargs.pop("free_tagging", None)
+
+        default_attrs = {"data-controller": "w-tag"}
+        attrs = kwargs.get("attrs")
+        if attrs:
+            default_attrs.update(attrs)
+        kwargs["attrs"] = default_attrs
+
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def get_context(self, name, value, attrs):
@@ -41,8 +48,8 @@ class AdminTagWidget(TagWidget):
             help_text = _("Tags can only consist of a single word, no spaces allowed.")
 
         context["widget"]["help_text"] = help_text
-        context["widget"]["autocomplete_url"] = autocomplete_url
-        context["widget"]["options_json"] = json.dumps(
+        context["widget"]["attrs"]["data-w-tag-url-value"] = autocomplete_url
+        context["widget"]["attrs"]["data-w-tag-options-value"] = json.dumps(
             {
                 "allowSpaces": getattr(settings, "TAG_SPACES_ALLOWED", True),
                 "tagLimit": getattr(settings, "TAG_LIMIT", None),
diff --git a/wagtail/documents/static_src/wagtaildocs/js/add-multiple.js b/wagtail/documents/static_src/wagtaildocs/js/add-multiple.js
index 4c05b17f7b..5a2d837aeb 100644
--- a/wagtail/documents/static_src/wagtaildocs/js/add-multiple.js
+++ b/wagtail/documents/static_src/wagtaildocs/js/add-multiple.js
@@ -174,9 +174,6 @@ $(function () {
         });
       } else {
         form.replaceWith(data.form);
-
-        // run tagit enhancement on new form
-        $('.tag_field input', form).tagit(window.tagit_opts);
       }
     });
   });
diff --git a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/bulk_actions/confirm_bulk_add_tags.html b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/bulk_actions/confirm_bulk_add_tags.html
index 389447169c..a0d53fb19f 100644
--- a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/bulk_actions/confirm_bulk_add_tags.html
+++ b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/bulk_actions/confirm_bulk_add_tags.html
@@ -3,18 +3,6 @@
 {% load wagtailimages_tags wagtailadmin_tags %}
 {% block titletag %}{% blocktrans trimmed count counter=items|length %}Add tags to 1 document {% plural %}Add tags to {{ counter }} documents{% endblocktrans %}{% endblock %}
 
-{% block extra_js %}
-    {{ block.super }}
-    {% url 'wagtailadmin_tag_autocomplete' as autocomplete_url %}
-    <script>
-        $(function() {
-            $('#id_tags').tagit({
-                autocomplete: {source: "{{ autocomplete_url|addslashes }}"}
-            });
-        });
-    </script>
-{% endblock %}
-
 {% block header %}
     {% trans "Add tags to documents" as add_str %}
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/header.html" with title=add_str icon="doc-full-inverse" %}
diff --git a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/add.html b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/add.html
index 5826df56da..42155d3786 100644
--- a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/add.html
+++ b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/add.html
@@ -36,9 +36,6 @@
                     $titleField.val(data.title);
                 }
             );
-            $('#id_tags').tagit({
-                autocomplete: {source: "{{ autocomplete_url|addslashes }}"}
-            });
         });
     </script>
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/edit.html b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/edit.html
index 1e89eb32b0..ca80356973 100644
--- a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/edit.html
+++ b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/edit.html
@@ -7,15 +7,6 @@
     {{ block.super }}
 
     {{ form.media.js }}
-
-    {% url 'wagtailadmin_tag_autocomplete' as autocomplete_url %}
-    <script>
-        $(function() {
-            $('#id_tags').tagit({
-                autocomplete: {source: "{{ autocomplete_url|addslashes }}"}
-            });
-        });
-    </script>
 {% endblock %}
 
 {% block extra_css %}
diff --git a/wagtail/images/static_src/wagtailimages/js/add-multiple.js b/wagtail/images/static_src/wagtailimages/js/add-multiple.js
index 08000e5edc..e809f8c8d6 100644
--- a/wagtail/images/static_src/wagtailimages/js/add-multiple.js
+++ b/wagtail/images/static_src/wagtailimages/js/add-multiple.js
@@ -214,9 +214,6 @@ $(function () {
         });
       } else {
         form.replaceWith(data.form);
-
-        // run tagit enhancement on new form
-        $('.tag_field input', form).tagit(window.tagit_opts);
       }
     });
   });
diff --git a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/bulk_actions/confirm_bulk_add_tags.html b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/bulk_actions/confirm_bulk_add_tags.html
index 7a27814134..bb6ce15f3b 100644
--- a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/bulk_actions/confirm_bulk_add_tags.html
+++ b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/bulk_actions/confirm_bulk_add_tags.html
@@ -3,18 +3,6 @@
 {% load wagtailimages_tags wagtailadmin_tags %}
 {% block titletag %}{% blocktrans trimmed count counter=items|length %}Add tags to 1 image {% plural %}Add tags to {{ counter }} images{% endblocktrans %}{% endblock %}
 
-{% block extra_js %}
-    {{ block.super }}
-    {% url 'wagtailadmin_tag_autocomplete' as autocomplete_url %}
-    <script>
-        $(function() {
-            $('#id_tags').tagit({
-                autocomplete: {source: "{{ autocomplete_url|addslashes }}"}
-            });
-        });
-    </script>
-{% endblock %}
-
 {% block header %}
     {% trans "Add tags to images" as add_str %}
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/header.html" with title=add_str icon="doc-full-inverse" %}
diff --git a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/add.html b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/add.html
index cbfc3716e3..d00d83db6c 100644
--- a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/add.html
+++ b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/add.html
@@ -36,9 +36,6 @@
                     $titleField.val(data.title);
                 }
             );
-            $('#id_tags').tagit({
-                autocomplete: {source: "{{ autocomplete_url|addslashes }}"}
-            });
         });
     </script>
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/edit.html b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/edit.html
index 71eab940da..d29855acf0 100644
--- a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/edit.html
+++ b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/edit.html
@@ -12,15 +12,6 @@
 
     {{ form.media.js }}
 
-    {% url 'wagtailadmin_tag_autocomplete' as autocomplete_url %}
-    <script>
-        $(function() {
-            $('#id_tags').tagit({
-                autocomplete: {source: "{{ autocomplete_url|addslashes }}"}
-            });
-        });
-    </script>
-
     <!-- Focal point chooser -->
     <script src="{% versioned_static 'wagtailadmin/js/vendor/jquery.ba-throttle-debounce.min.js' %}"></script>
     <script src="{% versioned_static 'wagtailimages/js/vendor/jquery.Jcrop.min.js' %}"></script>