diff --git a/.changeset/forty-poets-tie.md b/.changeset/forty-poets-tie.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9118100934
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/forty-poets-tie.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-catalog-react': patch
+---
+
+Decouple tags picker from backend entities
+
+`EntityTagPicker` fetches all the tags independently and it doesn't require all the entities to be available client side.
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityTagPicker/EntityTagPicker.test.tsx b/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityTagPicker/EntityTagPicker.test.tsx
index c6b985bc8b..2be521203f 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityTagPicker/EntityTagPicker.test.tsx
+++ b/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityTagPicker/EntityTagPicker.test.tsx
@@ -14,60 +14,49 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Entity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
-import { fireEvent, render } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { fireEvent, render, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
 import React from 'react';
 import { MockEntityListContextProvider } from '../../testUtils/providers';
 import { EntityTagFilter } from '../../filters';
 import { EntityTagPicker } from './EntityTagPicker';
+import { TestApiProvider } from '@backstage/test-utils';
+import { catalogApiRef } from '../../api';
+import { CatalogApi } from '@backstage/catalog-client';
 
-const taggedEntities: Entity[] = [
-  {
-    apiVersion: '1',
-    kind: 'Component',
-    metadata: {
-      name: 'component-1',
-      tags: ['tag4', 'tag1', 'tag2'],
-    },
-  },
-  {
-    apiVersion: '1',
-    kind: 'Component',
-    metadata: {
-      name: 'component-2',
-      tags: ['tag3', 'tag4'],
-    },
-  },
-];
+const tags = ['tag1', 'tag2', 'tag3', 'tag4'];
 
 describe('<EntityTagPicker/>', () => {
-  it('renders all tags', () => {
+  const mockCatalogApiRef = {
+    getEntityFacets: async () => ({
+      facets: { 'metadata.tags': tags.map(value => ({ value })) },
+    }),
+  } as unknown as CatalogApi;
+
+  it('renders all tags', async () => {
     const rendered = render(
-      <MockEntityListContextProvider
-        value={{ entities: taggedEntities, backendEntities: taggedEntities }}
-      >
-        <EntityTagPicker />
-      </MockEntityListContextProvider>,
+      <TestApiProvider apis={[[catalogApiRef, mockCatalogApiRef]]}>
+        <MockEntityListContextProvider value={{}}>
+          <EntityTagPicker />
+        </MockEntityListContextProvider>
+      </TestApiProvider>,
     );
-    expect(rendered.getByText('Tags')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(rendered.getByText('Tags')).toBeInTheDocument());
 
     fireEvent.click(rendered.getByTestId('tag-picker-expand'));
-    taggedEntities
-      .flatMap(e => e.metadata.tags!)
-      .forEach(tag => {
-        expect(rendered.getByText(tag)).toBeInTheDocument();
-      });
+    tags.forEach(tag => {
+      expect(rendered.getByText(tag)).toBeInTheDocument();
+    });
   });
 
-  it('renders unique tags in alphabetical order', () => {
+  it('renders unique tags in alphabetical order', async () => {
     const rendered = render(
-      <MockEntityListContextProvider
-        value={{ entities: taggedEntities, backendEntities: taggedEntities }}
-      >
-        <EntityTagPicker />
-      </MockEntityListContextProvider>,
+      <TestApiProvider apis={[[catalogApiRef, mockCatalogApiRef]]}>
+        <MockEntityListContextProvider value={{}}>
+          <EntityTagPicker />
+        </MockEntityListContextProvider>
+      </TestApiProvider>,
     );
-    expect(rendered.getByText('Tags')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(rendered.getByText('Tags')).toBeInTheDocument());
 
     fireEvent.click(rendered.getByTestId('tag-picker-expand'));
 
@@ -79,43 +68,47 @@ describe('<EntityTagPicker/>', () => {
     ]);
   });
 
-  it('respects the query parameter filter value', () => {
+  it('respects the query parameter filter value', async () => {
     const updateFilters = jest.fn();
     const queryParameters = { tags: ['tag3'] };
     render(
-      <MockEntityListContextProvider
-        value={{
-          entities: taggedEntities,
-          backendEntities: taggedEntities,
-          updateFilters,
-          queryParameters,
-        }}
-      >
-        <EntityTagPicker />
-      </MockEntityListContextProvider>,
+      <TestApiProvider apis={[[catalogApiRef, mockCatalogApiRef]]}>
+        <MockEntityListContextProvider
+          value={{
+            updateFilters,
+            queryParameters,
+          }}
+        >
+          <EntityTagPicker />
+        </MockEntityListContextProvider>
+      </TestApiProvider>,
     );
 
-    expect(updateFilters).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
-      tags: new EntityTagFilter(['tag3']),
-    });
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(updateFilters).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
+        tags: new EntityTagFilter(['tag3']),
+      }),
+    );
   });
 
-  it('adds tags to filters', () => {
+  it('adds tags to filters', async () => {
     const updateFilters = jest.fn();
     const rendered = render(
-      <MockEntityListContextProvider
-        value={{
-          entities: taggedEntities,
-          backendEntities: taggedEntities,
-          updateFilters,
-        }}
-      >
-        <EntityTagPicker />
-      </MockEntityListContextProvider>,
+      <TestApiProvider apis={[[catalogApiRef, mockCatalogApiRef]]}>
+        <MockEntityListContextProvider
+          value={{
+            updateFilters,
+          }}
+        >
+          <EntityTagPicker />
+        </MockEntityListContextProvider>
+      </TestApiProvider>,
+    );
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(updateFilters).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
+        tags: undefined,
+      }),
     );
-    expect(updateFilters).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
-      tags: undefined,
-    });
 
     fireEvent.click(rendered.getByTestId('tag-picker-expand'));
     fireEvent.click(rendered.getByText('tag1'));
@@ -124,23 +117,25 @@ describe('<EntityTagPicker/>', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it('removes tags from filters', () => {
+  it('removes tags from filters', async () => {
     const updateFilters = jest.fn();
     const rendered = render(
-      <MockEntityListContextProvider
-        value={{
-          entities: taggedEntities,
-          backendEntities: taggedEntities,
-          updateFilters,
-          filters: { tags: new EntityTagFilter(['tag1']) },
-        }}
-      >
-        <EntityTagPicker />
-      </MockEntityListContextProvider>,
+      <TestApiProvider apis={[[catalogApiRef, mockCatalogApiRef]]}>
+        <MockEntityListContextProvider
+          value={{
+            updateFilters,
+            filters: { tags: new EntityTagFilter(['tag1']) },
+          }}
+        >
+          <EntityTagPicker />
+        </MockEntityListContextProvider>
+      </TestApiProvider>,
+    );
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(updateFilters).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
+        tags: new EntityTagFilter(['tag1']),
+      }),
     );
-    expect(updateFilters).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
-      tags: new EntityTagFilter(['tag1']),
-    });
     fireEvent.click(rendered.getByTestId('tag-picker-expand'));
     expect(rendered.getByLabelText('tag1')).toBeChecked();
 
@@ -150,30 +145,36 @@ describe('<EntityTagPicker/>', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it('responds to external queryParameters changes', () => {
+  it('responds to external queryParameters changes', async () => {
     const updateFilters = jest.fn();
     const rendered = render(
-      <MockEntityListContextProvider
-        value={{
-          updateFilters,
-          queryParameters: { tags: ['tag1'] },
-        }}
-      >
-        <EntityTagPicker />
-      </MockEntityListContextProvider>,
+      <TestApiProvider apis={[[catalogApiRef, mockCatalogApiRef]]}>
+        <MockEntityListContextProvider
+          value={{
+            updateFilters,
+            queryParameters: { tags: ['tag1'] },
+          }}
+        >
+          <EntityTagPicker />
+        </MockEntityListContextProvider>
+      </TestApiProvider>,
+    );
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(updateFilters).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
+        tags: new EntityTagFilter(['tag1']),
+      }),
     );
-    expect(updateFilters).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
-      tags: new EntityTagFilter(['tag1']),
-    });
     rendered.rerender(
-      <MockEntityListContextProvider
-        value={{
-          updateFilters,
-          queryParameters: { tags: ['tag2'] },
-        }}
-      >
-        <EntityTagPicker />
-      </MockEntityListContextProvider>,
+      <TestApiProvider apis={[[catalogApiRef, mockCatalogApiRef]]}>
+        <MockEntityListContextProvider
+          value={{
+            updateFilters,
+            queryParameters: { tags: ['tag2'] },
+          }}
+        >
+          <EntityTagPicker />
+        </MockEntityListContextProvider>
+      </TestApiProvider>,
     );
     expect(updateFilters).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
       tags: new EntityTagFilter(['tag2']),
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityTagPicker/EntityTagPicker.tsx b/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityTagPicker/EntityTagPicker.tsx
index 5b5e0e7ab9..eafa10696c 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityTagPicker/EntityTagPicker.tsx
+++ b/plugins/catalog-react/src/components/EntityTagPicker/EntityTagPicker.tsx
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Entity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import {
   Box,
   Checkbox,
@@ -30,6 +29,9 @@ import { Autocomplete } from '@material-ui/lab';
 import React, { useEffect, useMemo, useState } from 'react';
 import { useEntityList } from '../../hooks/useEntityListProvider';
 import { EntityTagFilter } from '../../filters';
+import { useApi } from '@backstage/core-plugin-api';
+import useAsync from 'react-use/lib/useAsync';
+import { catalogApiRef } from '../../api';
 
 /** @public */
 export type CatalogReactEntityTagPickerClassKey = 'input';
@@ -49,8 +51,17 @@ const checkedIcon = <CheckBoxIcon fontSize="small" />;
 /** @public */
 export const EntityTagPicker = () => {
   const classes = useStyles();
-  const { updateFilters, backendEntities, filters, queryParameters } =
-    useEntityList();
+  const { updateFilters, filters, queryParameters } = useEntityList();
+
+  const catalogApi = useApi(catalogApiRef);
+  const { value: availableTags } = useAsync(async () => {
+    const facet = 'metadata.tags';
+    const { facets } = await catalogApi.getEntityFacets({
+      facets: [facet],
+    });
+
+    return facets[facet].map(({ value }) => value);
+  }, []);
 
   const queryParamTags = useMemo(
     () => [queryParameters.tags].flat().filter(Boolean) as string[],
@@ -75,19 +86,7 @@ export const EntityTagPicker = () => {
     });
   }, [selectedTags, updateFilters]);
 
-  const availableTags = useMemo(
-    () =>
-      [
-        ...new Set(
-          backendEntities
-            .flatMap((e: Entity) => e.metadata.tags)
-            .filter(Boolean) as string[],
-        ),
-      ].sort(),
-    [backendEntities],
-  );
-
-  if (!availableTags.length) return null;
+  if (!availableTags?.length) return null;
 
   return (
     <Box pb={1} pt={1}>