diff --git a/lib/awful/ewmh.lua b/lib/awful/ewmh.lua
index 817a69bd..cde67f76 100644
--- a/lib/awful/ewmh.lua
+++ b/lib/awful/ewmh.lua
@@ -204,7 +204,8 @@ function ewmh.tag(c, t, hints) --luacheck: no unused
         if c.transient_for and not (hints and hints.reason == "screen") then
             c.screen = c.transient_for.screen
             if not c.sticky then
-                c:tags(c.transient_for:tags())
+                local tags = c.transient_for:tags()
+                c:tags(#tags > 0 and tags or c.transient_for.screen.selected_tags)
             end
         else
             c:to_selected_tags()