diff --git a/github3/repos/repo.py b/github3/repos/repo.py
index d00e081f0..abd238002 100644
--- a/github3/repos/repo.py
+++ b/github3/repos/repo.py
@@ -1005,7 +1005,7 @@ def create_tag(self, tag, message, sha, obj_type, tagger,
             url = self._build_url('git', 'tags', base_url=self._api)
             json = self._json(self._post(url, data=data), 201)
             if json:
-                self.create_ref('refs/tags/' + tag, sha)
+                self.create_ref('refs/tags/' + tag, json['sha'])
         return self._instance_or_null(Tag, json)
 
     @requires_auth