diff --git a/openformats/formats/yaml/utils.py b/openformats/formats/yaml/utils.py
index 1cfcb7c0..89b91443 100644
--- a/openformats/formats/yaml/utils.py
+++ b/openformats/formats/yaml/utils.py
@@ -222,6 +222,8 @@ def construct_mapping(self, node, deep=True):
                 and self._is_custom_tag(value_node.tag)
             ):
                 tag = six.text_type(value_node.tag)
+                # remove the exclamation mark from the tag
+                tag = tag[1:] if tag.startswith('!') else tag
 
             value = Node(value, start, end, style, tag)
             pairs.append((key, value))
@@ -350,7 +352,7 @@ def generate_yaml_dict(self, stringset):
                     )
             else:
                 self._insert_translation_in_dict(
-                    yaml_dict, keys, flags, se.string, tag=se.context,
+                    yaml_dict, keys, flags, se.string, tag='!'+se.context if se.context else se.context,
                 )
         return yaml_dict
 
diff --git a/openformats/formats/yaml/yaml.py b/openformats/formats/yaml/yaml.py
index b6d3bd5f..87168276 100644
--- a/openformats/formats/yaml/yaml.py
+++ b/openformats/formats/yaml/yaml.py
@@ -404,7 +404,8 @@ def _compile_from_template(self, template, stringset, **kwargs):
             # it and apply a space afterwards so it doesn't get merged with the
             # string
             if string.context:
-                transcriber.add(string.context)
+                # add an exclamation mark to the context to make it a tag
+                transcriber.add('!'+string.context)
                 transcriber.add(' ')
             transcriber.add(translation)
             transcriber.skip(len(string.template_replacement))
diff --git a/openformats/tests/formats/yaml/files/1_tpl.yml b/openformats/tests/formats/yaml/files/1_tpl.yml
index f9931de2..3c917397 100644
--- a/openformats/tests/formats/yaml/files/1_tpl.yml
+++ b/openformats/tests/formats/yaml/files/1_tpl.yml
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ alias_key:
   - ddc3cfcedcf1686d9e3ba6b99a0d091b_tr
 
 # Custom tags
-foo:  3e4000f6f4cd8bb27db6fb82e1b50bb4_tr # Should treat as string and ignore leading spaces
-bar: 75ce597a505a4faf6369b66b885926c8_tr # Also a string
+foo:  023503fb466f78932b77209b6581156e_tr # Should treat as string and ignore leading spaces
+bar: fac8140a2ec031af14bc758e73f59017_tr # Also a string
 hello: b0ed9cf22c0a5186d1c5b483a910dd33_tr # Translatable
 number: !!int 123 # Should ignore
 bin: !!binary aGVsbG8= # Should ignore
diff --git a/openformats/tests/formats/yaml/test_yaml.py b/openformats/tests/formats/yaml/test_yaml.py
index d547796b..cec516ec 100644
--- a/openformats/tests/formats/yaml/test_yaml.py
+++ b/openformats/tests/formats/yaml/test_yaml.py
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ def test_openstring_attributes(self):
         self.assertEqual(test_string.flags, '')
 
         content_string = strings[1]
-        self.assertEqual(content_string.context, '!tag')
+        self.assertEqual(content_string.context, 'tag')
         self.assertEqual(content_string.flags, "'")
 
     def test_parse_duplicate_keys(self):