diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 773d074..06ee23e 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -206,6 +206,12 @@ field. The currently supported configuration options are:
     present in the local CKAN. Setting it to 'create' will make an attempt to
     create the organizations by copying the details from the remote CKAN.
 
+*   clean_tags: By default, tags are not stripped of accent characters, spaces and
+    capital letters for display. If this option is set to True, accent characters
+    will be replaced by their ascii equivalents, capital letters replaced by
+    lower-case ones, and spaces replaced with dashes. Setting this option to False
+    gives the same effect as leaving it unset.
+
 Here is an example of a configuration object (the one that must be entered in
 the configuration field)::
 
diff --git a/ckanext/harvest/harvesters/base.py b/ckanext/harvest/harvesters/base.py
index 5429543..138a3ce 100644
--- a/ckanext/harvest/harvesters/base.py
+++ b/ckanext/harvest/harvesters/base.py
@@ -20,17 +20,18 @@ from ckanext.harvest.model import HarvestJob, HarvestObject, HarvestGatherError,
 from ckan.plugins.core import SingletonPlugin, implements
 from ckanext.harvest.interfaces import IHarvester
 
-from pylons import config
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 def munge_tag(tag):
-    clean_tags = config.get('ckanext.harvest.ckanharvester.clean_tags')
-    if clean_tags:
-        tag = substitute_ascii_equivalents(tag)
-        tag = tag.lower().strip()
-        return re.sub(r'[^a-zA-Z0-9 -]', '', tag).replace(' ', '-')
+    if self.config:
+        if self.config.get('clean_tags', False):
+            tag = substitute_ascii_equivalents(tag)
+            tag = tag.lower().strip()
+            return re.sub(r'[^a-zA-Z0-9 -]', '', tag).replace(' ', '-')
+        else:
+            return tag
     else:
         return tag