diff --git a/internal/service/inspector/assessment_template.go b/internal/service/inspector/assessment_template.go
index 2313f9eacaac..c8dc0d804583 100644
--- a/internal/service/inspector/assessment_template.go
+++ b/internal/service/inspector/assessment_template.go
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ func resourceAssessmentTemplateCreate(ctx context.Context, d *schema.ResourceDat
 
 	d.SetId(aws.StringValue(output.AssessmentTemplateArn))
 
-	if err := updateTags(ctx, conn, d.Id(), nil, KeyValueTags(ctx, GetTagsIn(ctx))); err != nil {
+	if err := createTags(ctx, conn, d.Id(), GetTagsIn(ctx)); err != nil {
 		return sdkdiag.AppendErrorf(diags, "setting Inspector Classic Assessment Template (%s) tags: %s", d.Id(), err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/service/inspector/tags.go b/internal/service/inspector/tags.go
index e7fb5087cfb0..7c515565d5c5 100644
--- a/internal/service/inspector/tags.go
+++ b/internal/service/inspector/tags.go
@@ -49,6 +49,14 @@ func updateTags(ctx context.Context, conn inspectoriface.InspectorAPI, identifie
 	return nil
 }
 
+func createTags(ctx context.Context, conn inspectoriface.InspectorAPI, identifier string, tags []*inspector.Tag) error {
+	if len(tags) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	return updateTags(ctx, conn, identifier, nil, KeyValueTags(ctx, tags))
+}
+
 // UpdateTags updates Inspector Classic service tags.
 // It is called from outside this package.
 func (p *servicePackage) UpdateTags(ctx context.Context, meta any, identifier string, oldTags, newTags any) error {