diff --git a/src/v_text.cpp b/src/v_text.cpp
index b4d1e5334..c5208be36 100644
--- a/src/v_text.cpp
+++ b/src/v_text.cpp
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ void STACK_ARGS DCanvas::DrawChar (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, B
 //
 // Write a string using the given font
 //
-void DCanvas::DrawTextV(FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, uint32 tag1, va_list taglist)
+void DCanvas::DrawTextV(FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, va_list taglist)
 {
 	INTBOOL boolval;
 	va_list tags;
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ void DCanvas::DrawTextV(FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *
 #else
 	tags = taglist;
 #endif
-	tag = tag1;
+	tag = va_arg(tags, uint32);
 
 	while (tag != TAG_DONE)
 	{
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ void DCanvas::DrawTextV(FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *
 		}
 		tag = va_arg (tags, uint32);
 	}
+	va_end(tags);
 
 	height *= scaley;
 		
@@ -242,7 +243,6 @@ void DCanvas::DrawTextV(FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *
 #else
 			tags = taglist;
 #endif
-			tag = tag1;
 			if (forcedwidth)
 			{
 				w = forcedwidth;
@@ -262,21 +262,22 @@ void DCanvas::DrawTextV(FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *
 		}
 		cx += (w + kerning) * scalex;
 	}
+	va_end(taglist);
 }
 
-void STACK_ARGS DCanvas::DrawText (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, uint32 tag, ...)
+void STACK_ARGS DCanvas::DrawText (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, ...)
 {
 	va_list tags;
-	va_start(tags, tag);
-	DrawTextV(font, normalcolor, x, y, string, tag, tags);
+	va_start(tags, string);
+	DrawTextV(font, normalcolor, x, y, string, tags);
 }
 
 // A synonym so that this can still be used in files that #include Windows headers
-void STACK_ARGS DCanvas::DrawTextA (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, uint32 tag, ...)
+void STACK_ARGS DCanvas::DrawTextA (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, ...)
 {
 	va_list tags;
-	va_start(tags, tag);
-	DrawTextV(font, normalcolor, x, y, string, tag, tags);
+	va_start(tags, string);
+	DrawTextV(font, normalcolor, x, y, string, tags);
 }
 
 //
diff --git a/src/v_video.h b/src/v_video.h
index 50a81f132..6d97256f9 100644
--- a/src/v_video.h
+++ b/src/v_video.h
@@ -214,11 +214,11 @@ public:
 	void VirtualToRealCoordsInt(int &x, int &y, int &w, int &h, int vwidth, int vheight, bool vbottom=false, bool handleaspect=true) const;
 
 	// 2D Text drawing
-	void STACK_ARGS DrawText (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, uint32 tag, ...);
+	void STACK_ARGS DrawText (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, ...);
 #ifndef DrawText	// See WinUser.h for the definition of DrawText as a macro
-	void STACK_ARGS DrawTextA (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, uint32 tag, ...);
+	void STACK_ARGS DrawTextA (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, ...);
 #endif
-	void DrawTextV (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, uint32 tag, va_list tags);
+	void DrawTextV (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, const char *string, va_list tags);
 	void STACK_ARGS DrawChar (FFont *font, int normalcolor, int x, int y, BYTE character, ...);
 
 	struct DrawParms