diff --git a/lib/galaxy/schema/item_tags.py b/lib/galaxy/schema/item_tags.py
index 6458241717c9..1237e42f01dc 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/schema/item_tags.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/schema/item_tags.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class ItemTagsListResponse(Model):
 class ItemTagsCreatePayload(Model):
     """Payload schema for creating an item tag."""
 
-    value: str = Field(
-        Required,
+    value: Optional[str] = Field(
+        None,
         title="value of the item tag",
     )
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/item_tags.py b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/item_tags.py
index 7b7f7fb65389..a32805ac4d49 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/item_tags.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/item_tags.py
@@ -72,8 +72,10 @@ def create(
                 trans: ProvidesAppContext = DependsOnTrans,
                 item_id: DecodedDatabaseIdField = Path(..., title="Item ID", alias=tagged_item_id),
                 tag_name: str = Path(..., title="Tag Name"),
-                payload: ItemTagsCreatePayload = Body(...),
+                payload: ItemTagsCreatePayload = Body(None),
             ) -> ItemTagsResponse:
+                if payload is None:
+                    payload = ItemTagsCreatePayload()
                 return self.manager.create(trans, tagged_item_class, item_id, tag_name, payload)
 
             @router.put(
diff --git a/lib/galaxy_test/api/test_item_tags.py b/lib/galaxy_test/api/test_item_tags.py
index 57c4c53bd9a9..3bf856126c8d 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy_test/api/test_item_tags.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy_test/api/test_item_tags.py
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+from typing import (
+    Any,
+    Dict,
+)
+
 from galaxy_test.base.populators import (
     DatasetCollectionPopulator,
     DatasetPopulator,
@@ -125,7 +130,7 @@ def _test_delete_tag(self, prefix):
 
     def _create_valid_tag(self, prefix: str):
         url = f"{prefix}/tags/awesometagname"
-        tag_data = dict(value="awesometagvalue")
+        tag_data: Dict[str, Any] = {}  # Can also be dict(value="awesometagvalue")
         response = self._post(url, data=tag_data, json=True)
         return response