diff --git a/lib/github_changelog_generator/generator/generator_tags.rb b/lib/github_changelog_generator/generator/generator_tags.rb
index 51d0c2b..9c8fd9d 100644
--- a/lib/github_changelog_generator/generator/generator_tags.rb
+++ b/lib/github_changelog_generator/generator/generator_tags.rb
@@ -7,35 +7,43 @@ module GitHubChangelogGenerator
       detect_since_tag
       detect_due_tag
 
-      all_tags      = @fetcher.get_all_tags
-      included_tags = filter_excluded_tags(all_tags)
-
+      all_tags = @fetcher.get_all_tags
       fetch_tags_dates(all_tags) # Creates a Hash @tag_times_hash
-      @sorted_tags   = sort_tags_by_date(included_tags)
-      @filtered_tags = get_filtered_tags(included_tags)
+      all_sorted_tags = sort_tags_by_date(all_tags)
 
-      @tag_section_mapping = build_tag_section_mapping(@filtered_tags, sorted_tags)
+      @sorted_tags   = filter_excluded_tags(all_sorted_tags)
+      @filtered_tags = get_filtered_tags(@sorted_tags)
+
+      # Because we need to properly create compare links, we need a sorted list
+      # of all filtered tags (including the excluded ones). We'll exclude those
+      # tags from section headers inside the mapping function.
+      section_tags = get_filtered_tags(all_sorted_tags)
+
+      @tag_section_mapping = build_tag_section_mapping(section_tags, @filtered_tags)
 
       @filtered_tags
     end
 
-    # @param [Array] filtered_tags are the tags that need a subsection output
-    # @param [Array] all_tags is the list of all tags ordered from newest -> oldest
+    # @param [Array] section_tags are the tags that need a subsection output
+    # @param [Array] filtered_tags is the list of filtered tags ordered from newest -> oldest
     # @return [Hash] key is the tag to output, value is an array of [Left Tag, Right Tag]
     # PRs to include in this section will be >= [Left Tag Date] and <= [Right Tag Date]
     # rubocop:disable Style/For - for allows us to be more concise
-    def build_tag_section_mapping(filtered_tags, _all_tags)
+    def build_tag_section_mapping(section_tags, filtered_tags)
       tag_mapping = {}
-      for i in 0..(filtered_tags.length - 1)
-        tag = filtered_tags[i]
+      for i in 0..(section_tags.length - 1)
+        tag = section_tags[i]
 
         # Don't create section header for the "since" tag
         next if @since_tag && tag["name"] == @since_tag
 
         # Don't create a section header for the first tag in between_tags
-        next if options[:between_tags] && tag == filtered_tags.last
+        next if options[:between_tags] && tag == section_tags.last
 
-        older_tag = filtered_tags[i + 1]
+        # Don't create a section header for excluded tags
+        next unless filtered_tags.include?(tag)
+
+        older_tag = section_tags[i + 1]
         tag_mapping[tag] = [older_tag, tag]
       end
       tag_mapping
diff --git a/spec/unit/generator/generator_tags_spec.rb b/spec/unit/generator/generator_tags_spec.rb
index 8791a05..70d0d80 100644
--- a/spec/unit/generator/generator_tags_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/generator/generator_tags_spec.rb
@@ -14,13 +14,21 @@ describe GitHubChangelogGenerator::Generator do
   end
 
   describe "#build_tag_section_mapping" do
-    let(:sorted_tags) { tags_from_strings(%w(8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1)) }
-    let(:filtered_tags) { generator.get_filtered_tags(sorted_tags) }
+    let(:all_tags) { tags_from_strings(%w(8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1)) }
+    let(:sorted_tags) { all_tags }
+
     let(:options) { {} }
     let(:generator) { GitHubChangelogGenerator::Generator.new(options) }
 
+    before do
+      allow_any_instance_of(GitHubChangelogGenerator::OctoFetcher).to receive(:get_all_tags).and_return(all_tags)
+      allow(generator).to receive(:fetch_tags_dates).with(all_tags)
+      allow(generator).to receive(:sort_tags_by_date).with(all_tags).and_return(sorted_tags)
+      generator.fetch_and_filter_tags
+    end
+
     subject do
-      generator.build_tag_section_mapping(filtered_tags, sorted_tags)
+      generator.tag_section_mapping
     end
 
     shared_examples_for "a section mapping" do
@@ -45,6 +53,20 @@ describe GitHubChangelogGenerator::Generator do
       it_behaves_like "a section mapping"
     end
 
+    shared_examples_for "a changelog with some exclusions" do
+      let(:expected_mapping) do
+        {
+          tag_with_name("8") => [tag_with_name("7"), tag_with_name("8")],
+          tag_with_name("6") => [tag_with_name("5"), tag_with_name("6")],
+          tag_with_name("4") => [tag_with_name("3"), tag_with_name("4")],
+          tag_with_name("3") => [tag_with_name("2"), tag_with_name("3")],
+          tag_with_name("1") => [nil, tag_with_name("1")]
+        }
+      end
+
+      it_behaves_like "a section mapping"
+    end
+
     context "with no constraints" do
       it_behaves_like "a full changelog"
     end
@@ -120,6 +142,26 @@ describe GitHubChangelogGenerator::Generator do
 
       it_behaves_like "a section mapping"
     end
+
+    context "with excluded tags" do
+      context "as a list of strings" do
+        let(:options) { { exclude_tags: %w(2 5 7) } }
+
+        it_behaves_like "a changelog with some exclusions"
+      end
+
+      context "as a regex" do
+        let(:options) { { exclude_tags: /[257]/ } }
+
+        it_behaves_like "a changelog with some exclusions"
+      end
+
+      context "as a regex string" do
+        let(:options) { { exclude_tags_regex: "[257]" } }
+
+        it_behaves_like "a changelog with some exclusions"
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe "#filter_between_tags" do