diff --git a/lib/vcr/cassette.rb b/lib/vcr/cassette.rb
index b10523f8..51c5e8d9 100644
--- a/lib/vcr/cassette.rb
+++ b/lib/vcr/cassette.rb
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ def write_recorded_interactions_to_disk
 
     def invoke_hook(type, interactions)
       interactions.delete_if do |i|
-        VCR.configuration.invoke_hook(type, tag, i, self)
+        VCR.configuration.invoke_tagged_hook(type, tag, i, self)
         i.ignored?
       end
     end
diff --git a/lib/vcr/library_hooks/typhoeus.rb b/lib/vcr/library_hooks/typhoeus.rb
index 7a5a2f60..50d9a04d 100644
--- a/lib/vcr/library_hooks/typhoeus.rb
+++ b/lib/vcr/library_hooks/typhoeus.rb
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def stubbed_response_headers
             VCR.record_http_interaction(http_interaction)
           end
 
-          VCR.configuration.invoke_hook(:after_http_request, nil, vcr_request, vcr_response)
+          VCR.configuration.invoke_hook(:after_http_request, vcr_request, vcr_response)
         end
       end
 
diff --git a/lib/vcr/library_hooks/webmock.rb b/lib/vcr/library_hooks/webmock.rb
index 8e6c8ecd..326aa177 100644
--- a/lib/vcr/library_hooks/webmock.rb
+++ b/lib/vcr/library_hooks/webmock.rb
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def on_stubbed_request
 
       ::WebMock.after_request do |request, response|
         unless VCR.library_hooks.disabled?(:webmock)
-          VCR.configuration.invoke_hook(:after_http_request, nil, vcr_request_from(request), vcr_response_from(response))
+          VCR.configuration.invoke_hook(:after_http_request, vcr_request_from(request), vcr_response_from(response))
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/lib/vcr/request_handler.rb b/lib/vcr/request_handler.rb
index eabab75d..7bdc45e2 100644
--- a/lib/vcr/request_handler.rb
+++ b/lib/vcr/request_handler.rb
@@ -12,12 +12,12 @@ def handle
 
     def invoke_before_request_hook
       return if disabled?
-      VCR.configuration.invoke_hook(:before_http_request, nil, vcr_request)
+      VCR.configuration.invoke_hook(:before_http_request, vcr_request)
     end
 
     def invoke_after_request_hook(vcr_response)
       return if disabled?
-      VCR.configuration.invoke_hook(:after_http_request, nil, vcr_request, vcr_response)
+      VCR.configuration.invoke_hook(:after_http_request, vcr_request, vcr_response)
     end
 
     def should_ignore?
diff --git a/lib/vcr/request_ignorer.rb b/lib/vcr/request_ignorer.rb
index 2dd60e37..d5fd95bf 100644
--- a/lib/vcr/request_ignorer.rb
+++ b/lib/vcr/request_ignorer.rb
@@ -29,8 +29,7 @@ def ignore_hosts(*hosts)
     end
 
     def ignore?(request)
-      tag = nil # we don't use tags here...
-      invoke_hook(:ignore_request, tag, request).any?
+      invoke_hook(:ignore_request, request).any?
     end
 
   private
diff --git a/lib/vcr/util/hooks.rb b/lib/vcr/util/hooks.rb
index 281489bb..af179e6b 100644
--- a/lib/vcr/util/hooks.rb
+++ b/lib/vcr/util/hooks.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@ def self.included(klass)
       klass.extend(ClassMethods)
     end
 
-    def invoke_hook(hook, tag=nil, *args)
+    def invoke_hook(hook, *args)
+      invoke_tagged_hook(hook, nil, *args)
+    end
+
+    def invoke_tagged_hook(hook, tag, *args)
       hooks_for(hook, tag).map do |callback|
         call_block(callback, *args)
       end
diff --git a/spec/vcr/cassette_spec.rb b/spec/vcr/cassette_spec.rb
index 5ec20109..b99f6071 100644
--- a/spec/vcr/cassette_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/vcr/cassette_spec.rb
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ def stub_old_interactions(interactions)
 
         if stub_requests
           it 'invokes the appropriately tagged before_playback hooks' do
-            VCR.configuration.should_receive(:invoke_hook).with(
+            VCR.configuration.should_receive(:invoke_tagged_hook).with(
               :before_playback,
               :foo,
               an_instance_of(VCR::HTTPInteraction),
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ def stub_old_interactions(interactions)
       cassette.stub!(:new_recorded_interactions).and_return(interactions)
 
       interactions.each do |i|
-        VCR.configuration.should_receive(:invoke_hook).with(
+        VCR.configuration.should_receive(:invoke_tagged_hook).with(
           :before_record,
           :foo,
           i,
diff --git a/spec/vcr/configuration_spec.rb b/spec/vcr/configuration_spec.rb
index 51066717..fe283f03 100644
--- a/spec/vcr/configuration_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/vcr/configuration_spec.rb
@@ -117,13 +117,13 @@
     it 'adds a before_record hook that replaces the string returned by the block with the given string' do
       subject.filter_sensitive_data('foo', &lambda { 'bar' })
       interaction.should_receive(:filter!).with('bar', 'foo')
-      subject.invoke_hook(:before_record, nil, interaction)
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_record, interaction)
     end
 
     it 'adds a before_playback hook that replaces the given string with the string returned by the block' do
       subject.filter_sensitive_data('foo', &lambda { 'bar' })
       interaction.should_receive(:filter!).with('foo', 'bar')
-      subject.invoke_hook(:before_playback, nil, interaction)
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_playback, interaction)
     end
 
     it 'tags the before_record hook when given a tag' do
@@ -139,14 +139,14 @@
     it 'yields the interaction to the block for the before_record hook' do
       yielded_interaction = nil
       subject.filter_sensitive_data('foo', &lambda { |i| yielded_interaction = i; 'bar' })
-      subject.invoke_hook(:before_record, nil, interaction)
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_record, interaction)
       yielded_interaction.should equal(interaction)
     end
 
     it 'yields the interaction to the block for the before_playback hook' do
       yielded_interaction = nil
       subject.filter_sensitive_data('foo', &lambda { |i| yielded_interaction = i; 'bar' })
-      subject.invoke_hook(:before_playback, nil, interaction)
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_playback, interaction)
       yielded_interaction.should equal(interaction)
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/vcr/util/hooks_spec.rb b/spec/vcr/util/hooks_spec.rb
index 7daf894d..07da1d6d 100644
--- a/spec/vcr/util/hooks_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/vcr/util/hooks_spec.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     it 'clears all hooks' do
       subject.before_foo { invocations << :callback }
       subject.clear_hooks
-      subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, nil)
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo)
       invocations.should be_empty
     end
   end
@@ -29,70 +29,74 @@
       subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo).should eq([17, 12])
     end
 
-    context 'with a tag argument' do
-      it 'invokes each of the :before_foo callbacks with a matching tag' do
-        subject.before_foo(:green) { invocations << :callback_1 }
-        subject.before_foo(:green) { invocations << :callback_2 }
-
-        invocations.should be_empty
-        subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, :green)
-        invocations.should eq([:callback_1, :callback_2])
-      end
-
-      it 'invokes each of the :before_foo callbacks with no tag' do
-        subject.before_foo { invocations << :no_tag_1 }
-        subject.before_foo { invocations << :no_tag_2 }
-
-        subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, :green)
-        invocations.should eq([:no_tag_1, :no_tag_2])
-      end
-
-      it 'does not invoke any callbacks with a different tag' do
-        subject.before_foo(:blue) { invocations << :blue_callback }
-        subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, :green)
-        invocations.should be_empty
-      end
+    it 'invokes each of the :before_foo callbacks' do
+      subject.before_foo { invocations << :callback_1 }
+      subject.before_foo { invocations << :callback_2 }
+
+      invocations.should be_empty
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo)
+      invocations.should eq([:callback_1, :callback_2])
+    end
+
+    it 'does not invoke :before_bar callbacks' do
+      subject.before_bar { invocations << :bar_callback }
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo)
+      invocations.should be_empty
+    end
+
+    it 'does not invoke any tagged callbacks' do
+      subject.before_foo(:blue) { invocations << :blue_callback }
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo)
+      invocations.should be_empty
+    end
+
+    it 'passes along the provided arguments to the callback' do
+      subject.before_foo(&lambda { |a, b| invocations << [a, b] })
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, :arg1, :arg2)
+      invocations.flatten.should eq([:arg1, :arg2])
+    end
+
+    it 'only passes along 1 argument when the block accepts only 1 arguments' do
+      subject.before_foo(&lambda { |a| invocations << a })
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, :arg1, :arg2)
+      invocations.flatten.should eq([:arg1])
+    end
+
+    it 'passes along all arguments when the block accepts a variable number of args' do
+      subject.before_foo(&lambda { |*a| invocations << a })
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, :arg1, :arg2)
+      invocations.flatten.should eq([:arg1, :arg2])
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "#invoke_tagged_hook(:before_foo, tag)" do
+    it 'invokes each of the :before_foo callbacks with a matching tag' do
+      subject.before_foo(:green) { invocations << :callback_1 }
+      subject.before_foo(:green) { invocations << :callback_2 }
+
+      invocations.should be_empty
+      subject.invoke_tagged_hook(:before_foo, :green)
+      invocations.should eq([:callback_1, :callback_2])
+    end
+
+    it 'invokes each of the :before_foo callbacks with no tag' do
+      subject.before_foo { invocations << :no_tag_1 }
+      subject.before_foo { invocations << :no_tag_2 }
+
+      subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, :green)
+      invocations.should eq([:no_tag_1, :no_tag_2])
+    end
+
+    it 'does not invoke any callbacks with a different tag' do
+      subject.before_foo(:blue) { invocations << :blue_callback }
+      subject.invoke_tagged_hook(:before_foo, :green)
+      invocations.should be_empty
     end
 
-    context 'without a tag argument' do
-      it 'invokes each of the :before_foo callbacks' do
-        subject.before_foo { invocations << :callback_1 }
-        subject.before_foo { invocations << :callback_2 }
-
-        invocations.should be_empty
-        subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, nil)
-        invocations.should eq([:callback_1, :callback_2])
-      end
-
-      it 'does not invoke :before_bar callbacks' do
-        subject.before_bar { invocations << :bar_callback }
-        subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, nil)
-        invocations.should be_empty
-      end
-
-      it 'does not invoke any tagged callbacks' do
-        subject.before_foo(:blue) { invocations << :blue_callback }
-        subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, nil)
-        invocations.should be_empty
-      end
-
-      it 'passes along the provided arguments to the callback' do
-        subject.before_foo(&lambda { |a, b| invocations << [a, b] })
-        subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, nil, :arg1, :arg2)
-        invocations.flatten.should eq([:arg1, :arg2])
-      end
-
-      it 'only passes along 1 argument when the block accepts only 1 arguments' do
-        subject.before_foo(&lambda { |a| invocations << a })
-        subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, nil, :arg1, :arg2)
-        invocations.flatten.should eq([:arg1])
-      end
-
-      it 'passes along all arguments when the block accepts a variable number of args' do
-        subject.before_foo(&lambda { |*a| invocations << a })
-        subject.invoke_hook(:before_foo, nil, :arg1, :arg2)
-        invocations.flatten.should eq([:arg1, :arg2])
-      end
+    it 'passes along the provided arguments to the callback' do
+      subject.before_foo(:green, &lambda { |a, b| invocations << [a, b] })
+      subject.invoke_tagged_hook(:before_foo, :green, :arg1, :arg2)
+      invocations.flatten.should eq([:arg1, :arg2])
     end
   end
 end