diff --git a/lib/jsduck/tag_loader.rb b/lib/jsduck/tag_loader.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3c1d409883511d5737ea52382234aebee9432c90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jsduck/tag_loader.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+require "jsduck/tag/tag"
+
+module JsDuck
+
+  class TagLoader
+    # Loads builtin tags from /tag dir.
+    # Returns array of Tag classes.
+    def load_builtins
+      load_tag_classes(File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/tag")
+      tag_classes
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    # Loads tags from given dir.
+    def load_tag_classes(dirname)
+      Dir[dirname+"/**/*.rb"].each {|file| require(file) }
+    end
+
+    # Returns all available Tag classes sorted alphabetically.  This
+    # ensures attributes in member signatures are always rendered in
+    # the same order.
+    def tag_classes
+      JsDuck::Tag::Tag.descendants.sort {|a, b| a.to_s <=> b.to_s }
+    end
+
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/lib/jsduck/tag_registry.rb b/lib/jsduck/tag_registry.rb
index 83791769957728ec32b5bb565793def63b5ada95..9d0512d19b4cfd167da1d993949f33353d582751 100644
--- a/lib/jsduck/tag_registry.rb
+++ b/lib/jsduck/tag_registry.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require "jsduck/tag/tag"
+require "jsduck/tag_loader"
 require "jsduck/util/singleton"
 
 module JsDuck
@@ -15,17 +15,12 @@ module JsDuck
       @keys = {}
       @signatures = []
       @html_renderers = {:top => [], :bottom => []}
-      load_tag_classes(File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/tag")
-      instantiate_tags
-    end
 
-    # Loads tags from given dir.
-    def load_tag_classes(dirname)
-      Dir[dirname+"/**/*.rb"].each {|file| require(file) }
+      instantiate_tags(TagLoader.new.load_builtins)
     end
 
     # Instantiates all descendants of JsDuck::Tag::Tag
-    def instantiate_tags
+    def instantiate_tags(tag_classes)
       tag_classes.each do |cls|
         tag = cls.new()
         Array(tag.pattern).each do |pattern|
@@ -53,13 +48,6 @@ module JsDuck
       end
     end
 
-    # Returns all available Tag classes sorted alphabetically.  This
-    # ensures attributes in member signatures are always rendered in
-    # the same order.
-    def tag_classes
-      JsDuck::Tag::Tag.descendants.sort {|a, b| a.to_s <=> b.to_s }
-    end
-
     #
     # Accessors for lists of tags
     #