diff --git a/registry.py b/registry.py
index dbc82d1..1d3ed8c 100755
--- a/registry.py
+++ b/registry.py
@@ -811,9 +811,11 @@ def main_loop(args):
                         print("    layer: {0}".format(
                             layer['blobSum']))
 
-        # add tags to "tags_to_keep" list, if we have regexp "tags_to_keep"
-        # entries or a number of hours for "keep_by_hours":
+        # add tags to "tags_to_keep" list if we have regexp "tags_to_keep"
+        # entries, a number of hours for "keep_by_hours" or if the user
+        # explicitly specified tags to always keep.
         keep_tags = []
+        keep_tags.extend(args.keep_tags)
         if args.keep_tags_like:
             keep_tags.extend(get_tags_like(args.keep_tags_like, tags_list))
         if args.keep_by_hours:
@@ -842,7 +844,6 @@ def main_loop(args):
 
         # delete tags by age in hours
         if args.delete_by_hours:
-            keep_tags.extend(args.keep_tags)
             delete_tags_by_age(registry, image_name, args.dry_run,
                                args.delete_by_hours, keep_tags)