diff --git a/cmd/drone-docker-buildx/config.go b/cmd/drone-docker-buildx/config.go
index 20c7943..1b05ec9 100644
--- a/cmd/drone-docker-buildx/config.go
+++ b/cmd/drone-docker-buildx/config.go
@@ -117,7 +117,6 @@ func settingsFlags(settings *plugin.Settings) []cli.Flag {
 			Name:        "tags",
 			EnvVars:     []string{"PLUGIN_TAG", "PLUGIN_TAGS"},
 			Usage:       "sets repository tags to use for the image",
-			Value:       cli.NewStringSlice([]string{"latest"}...),
 			FilePath:    ".tags",
 			Destination: &settings.Build.Tags,
 		},
diff --git a/plugin/docker.go b/plugin/docker.go
index e5a8509..d64f886 100644
--- a/plugin/docker.go
+++ b/plugin/docker.go
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func commandBuild(build Build, dryrun bool) *exec.Cmd {
 	}
 
 	args = append(args, build.Context)
-	if !dryrun {
+	if !dryrun && len(build.Tags.Value()) > 0 {
 		args = append(args, "--push")
 	}
 	if build.Compress {
diff --git a/plugin/impl.go b/plugin/impl.go
index 7c804ba..6128e0c 100644
--- a/plugin/impl.go
+++ b/plugin/impl.go
@@ -87,12 +87,12 @@ func (p *Plugin) Validate() error {
 				p.settings.Build.TagsSuffix,
 			)
 			if err != nil {
-				logrus.Printf("cannot build docker image for %s, invalid semantic version", p.settings.Build.Ref)
+				logrus.Printf("cannot generate tags from %s, invalid semantic version", p.settings.Build.Ref)
 				return err
 			}
 			p.settings.Build.Tags = *cli.NewStringSlice(tag...)
 		} else {
-			logrus.Printf("skipping automated docker build for %s", p.settings.Build.Ref)
+			logrus.Printf("skip auto-tagging for %s, not on default branch or tag", p.settings.Build.Ref)
 			return nil
 		}
 	}