diff --git a/modules/device.py b/modules/device.py
index 93ba0f6..ab1f38f 100644
--- a/modules/device.py
+++ b/modules/device.py
@@ -869,8 +869,10 @@ class PhysicalDevice:
 
         # Check host tags
         if config["tag_sync"]:
-            if remove_duplicates(host["tags"], sortkey="tag") == remove_duplicates(
-                self.tags, sortkey="tag"
+            if remove_duplicates(
+                host["tags"], lambda tag: f"{tag['tag']}{tag['value']}"
+            ) == remove_duplicates(
+                self.tags, lambda tag: f"{tag['tag']}{tag['value']}"
             ):
                 self.logger.debug("Host %s: Tags in-sync.", self.name)
             else:
diff --git a/modules/tools.py b/modules/tools.py
index db6a1a6..8ccdb42 100644
--- a/modules/tools.py
+++ b/modules/tools.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 """A collection of tools used by several classes"""
 
+from typing import Any, Callable, Optional, overload
+from warnings import deprecated
 from modules.exceptions import HostgroupError
 
 
@@ -108,15 +110,40 @@ def field_mapper(host, mapper, nbdevice, logger):
     return data
 
 
-def remove_duplicates(input_list, sortkey=None):
+@overload
+def remove_duplicates(
+    input_list: list[dict[Any, Any]],
+    sortkey: Optional[str | Callable[[dict[str, Any]], str]] = None,
+): ...
+
+
+@overload
+@deprecated("input_list should be of type list[dict[Any, Any]]")
+def remove_duplicates(
+    input_list: dict[Any, Any],
+    sortkey: Optional[str | Callable[[dict[str, Any]], str]] = None,
+): ...
+
+
+def remove_duplicates(
+    input_list: list[dict[Any, Any]] | dict[Any, Any],
+    sortkey: Optional[str | Callable[[dict[str, Any]], str]] = None,
+):
     """
     Removes duplicate entries from a list and sorts the list
+
+    sortkey: Optional; key to sort the list on. Can be a string or a callable function.
     """
     output_list = []
     if isinstance(input_list, list):
         output_list = [dict(t) for t in {tuple(d.items()) for d in input_list}]
+
     if sortkey and isinstance(sortkey, str):
         output_list.sort(key=lambda x: x[sortkey])
+
+    elif sortkey and callable(sortkey):
+        output_list.sort(key=sortkey)
+
     return output_list