diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.Runtime/TagHelpers/TagHelperDescriptorResolver.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.Runtime/TagHelpers/TagHelperDescriptorResolver.cs
index 9978fff71f..ec1ade272a 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.Runtime/TagHelpers/TagHelperDescriptorResolver.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.Runtime/TagHelpers/TagHelperDescriptorResolver.cs
@@ -30,37 +30,30 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.Runtime.TagHelpers
         }
 
         /// <inheritdoc />
-        public IEnumerable<TagHelperDescriptor> Resolve(string lookupText)
+        public IEnumerable<TagHelperDescriptor> Resolve([NotNull] TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext context)
         {
-            var lookupStrings = lookupText?.Split(new[] { ',' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
+            var resolvedDescriptors = new HashSet<TagHelperDescriptor>(TagHelperDescriptorComparer.Default);
 
-            // Ensure that we have valid lookupStrings to work with. Valid formats are:
-            // "assemblyName"
-            // "typeName, assemblyName"
-            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(lookupText) ||
-                (lookupStrings.Length != 1 && lookupStrings.Length != 2))
+            foreach (var directiveDescriptor in context.DirectiveDescriptors)
             {
-                throw new ArgumentException(
-                    Resources.FormatTagHelperDescriptorResolver_InvalidTagHelperLookupText(lookupText),
-                    nameof(lookupText));
+                var lookupInfo = GetLookupInfo(directiveDescriptor);
+
+                if (directiveDescriptor.DirectiveType == TagHelperDirectiveType.RemoveTagHelper)
+                {
+                    resolvedDescriptors.RemoveWhere(descriptor => MatchesLookupInfo(descriptor, lookupInfo));
+                }
+                else if (directiveDescriptor.DirectiveType == TagHelperDirectiveType.AddTagHelper)
+                {
+                    var descriptors = ResolveDescriptorsInAssembly(lookupInfo.AssemblyName);
+
+                    // Only use descriptors that match our lookup info
+                    descriptors = descriptors.Where(descriptor => MatchesLookupInfo(descriptor, lookupInfo));
+
+                    resolvedDescriptors.UnionWith(descriptors);
+                }
             }
 
-            // Grab the assembly name from the lookup text strings. Due to our supported lookupText formats it will 
-            // always be the last element provided.
-            var assemblyName = lookupStrings.Last().Trim();
-            var descriptors = ResolveDescriptorsInAssembly(assemblyName);
-
-            // Check if the lookupText specifies a type to search for.
-            if (lookupStrings.Length == 2)
-            {
-                // The user provided a type name. Retrieve it so we can prune our descriptors.
-                var typeName = lookupStrings[0].Trim();
-
-                descriptors = descriptors.Where(descriptor =>
-                    string.Equals(descriptor.TypeName, typeName, StringComparison.Ordinal));
-            }
-
-            return descriptors;
+            return resolvedDescriptors;
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -83,5 +76,59 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.Runtime.TagHelpers
 
             return descriptors;
         }
+
+        private static bool MatchesLookupInfo(TagHelperDescriptor descriptor, LookupInfo lookupInfo)
+        {
+            if (!string.Equals(descriptor.AssemblyName, lookupInfo.AssemblyName, StringComparison.Ordinal))
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            return string.IsNullOrEmpty(lookupInfo.TypeName) ||
+              string.Equals(descriptor.TypeName, lookupInfo.TypeName, StringComparison.Ordinal);
+        }
+
+        private static LookupInfo GetLookupInfo(TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor directiveDescriptor)
+        {
+            var lookupText = directiveDescriptor.LookupText;
+            var lookupStrings = lookupText?.Split(new[] { ',' });
+
+            // Ensure that we have valid lookupStrings to work with. Valid formats are:
+            // "assemblyName"
+            // "typeName, assemblyName"
+            if (lookupStrings == null ||
+                lookupStrings.Any(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace) ||
+                (lookupStrings.Length != 1 && lookupStrings.Length != 2))
+            {
+                throw new ArgumentException(
+                    Resources.FormatTagHelperDescriptorResolver_InvalidTagHelperLookupText(lookupText),
+                    nameof(lookupText));
+            }
+
+            // Grab the assembly name from the lookup text strings. Due to our supported lookupText formats it will 
+            // always be the last element provided.
+            var assemblyName = lookupStrings.Last().Trim();
+            string typeName = null;
+
+            // Check if the lookupText specifies a type to search for.
+            if (lookupStrings.Length == 2)
+            {
+                // The user provided a type name. Retrieve it so we can prune our descriptors.
+                typeName = lookupStrings[0].Trim();
+            }
+
+            return new LookupInfo
+            {
+                AssemblyName = assemblyName,
+                TypeName = typeName
+            };
+        }
+
+        private class LookupInfo
+        {
+            public string AssemblyName { get; set; }
+
+            public string TypeName { get; set; }
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/Parser/TagHelpers/AddOrRemoveTagHelperSpanVisitor.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/Parser/TagHelpers/AddOrRemoveTagHelperSpanVisitor.cs
index fa5cc139bf..98283ee077 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/Parser/TagHelpers/AddOrRemoveTagHelperSpanVisitor.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/Parser/TagHelpers/AddOrRemoveTagHelperSpanVisitor.cs
@@ -18,21 +18,24 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.Parser.TagHelpers
     {
         private readonly ITagHelperDescriptorResolver _descriptorResolver;
 
-        private List<TagHelperDescriptor> _descriptors;
+        private List<TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor> _directiveDescriptors;
 
-        public AddOrRemoveTagHelperSpanVisitor(ITagHelperDescriptorResolver descriptorResolver)
+        public AddOrRemoveTagHelperSpanVisitor([NotNull] ITagHelperDescriptorResolver descriptorResolver)
         {
             _descriptorResolver = descriptorResolver;
         }
 
         public IEnumerable<TagHelperDescriptor> GetDescriptors([NotNull] Block root)
         {
-            _descriptors = new List<TagHelperDescriptor>();
+            _directiveDescriptors = new List<TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor>();
 
             // This will recurse through the syntax tree.
             VisitBlock(root);
 
-            return _descriptors;
+            var resolutionContext = new TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext(_directiveDescriptors);
+            var descriptors = _descriptorResolver.Resolve(resolutionContext);
+
+            return descriptors;
         }
 
         public override void VisitSpan(Span span)
@@ -43,34 +46,13 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.Parser.TagHelpers
             {
                 var codeGenerator = (AddOrRemoveTagHelperCodeGenerator)span.CodeGenerator;
 
-                if (_descriptorResolver == null)
-                {
-                    var directive = codeGenerator.RemoveTagHelperDescriptors ?
-                                  SyntaxConstants.CSharp.RemoveTagHelperKeyword :
-                                  SyntaxConstants.CSharp.AddTagHelperKeyword;
+                var directive = codeGenerator.RemoveTagHelperDescriptors ?
+                                TagHelperDirectiveType.RemoveTagHelper :
+                                TagHelperDirectiveType.AddTagHelper;
 
-                    throw new InvalidOperationException(
-                        RazorResources.FormatTagHelpers_CannotUseDirectiveWithNoTagHelperDescriptorResolver(
-                            directive, typeof(ITagHelperDescriptorResolver).FullName, typeof(RazorParser).FullName));
-                }
+                var directiveDescriptor = new TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor(codeGenerator.LookupText, directive);
 
-                // Look up all the descriptors associated with the "LookupText".
-                var descriptors = _descriptorResolver.Resolve(codeGenerator.LookupText);
-
-                if (codeGenerator.RemoveTagHelperDescriptors)
-                {
-                    var evaluatedDescriptors = 
-                        new HashSet<TagHelperDescriptor>(descriptors, TagHelperDescriptorComparer.Default);
-
-                    // We remove all found descriptors from the descriptor list to ignore the associated TagHelpers on the 
-                    // Razor page.
-                    _descriptors.RemoveAll(descriptor => evaluatedDescriptors.Contains(descriptor));
-                }
-                else
-                {
-                    // Add all the found descriptors to our list.
-                    _descriptors.AddRange(descriptors);
-                }
+                _directiveDescriptors.Add(directiveDescriptor);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/Properties/RazorResources.Designer.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/Properties/RazorResources.Designer.cs
index cd468b4d71..0bab77f769 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/Properties/RazorResources.Designer.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/Properties/RazorResources.Designer.cs
@@ -1526,22 +1526,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Razor
             return string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, GetString("ParseError_DirectiveMustBeSurroundedByQuotes"), p0);
         }
 
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Cannot use directive '{0}' when a {1} has not been provided to the {2}.
-        /// </summary>
-        internal static string TagHelpers_CannotUseDirectiveWithNoTagHelperDescriptorResolver
-        {
-            get { return GetString("TagHelpers_CannotUseDirectiveWithNoTagHelperDescriptorResolver"); }
-        }
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Cannot use directive '{0}' when a {1} has not been provided to the {2}.
-        /// </summary>
-        internal static string FormatTagHelpers_CannotUseDirectiveWithNoTagHelperDescriptorResolver(object p0, object p1, object p2)
-        {
-            return string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, GetString("TagHelpers_CannotUseDirectiveWithNoTagHelperDescriptorResolver"), p0, p1, p2);
-        }
-
         /// <summary>
         /// Found a malformed '{0}' tag helper. Tag helpers must have a start and end tag or be self closing.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/RazorResources.resx b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/RazorResources.resx
index 476f47f4ce..cdca65f247 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/RazorResources.resx
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/RazorResources.resx
@@ -421,9 +421,6 @@ Instead, wrap the contents of the block in "{{}}":
   <data name="ParseError_DirectiveMustBeSurroundedByQuotes" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Directive '{0}'s value must be surrounded in double quotes.</value>
   </data>
-  <data name="TagHelpers_CannotUseDirectiveWithNoTagHelperDescriptorResolver" xml:space="preserve">
-    <value>Cannot use directive '{0}' when a {1} has not been provided to the {2}.</value>
-  </data>
   <data name="TagHelpersParseTreeRewriter_FoundMalformedTagHelper" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Found a malformed '{0}' tag helper. Tag helpers must have a start and end tag or be self closing.</value>
   </data>
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/ITagHelperDescriptorResolver.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/ITagHelperDescriptorResolver.cs
index 747242a8a0..be9fb00209 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/ITagHelperDescriptorResolver.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/ITagHelperDescriptorResolver.cs
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.TagHelpers
     public interface ITagHelperDescriptorResolver
     {
         /// <summary>
-        /// Resolves <see cref="TagHelperDescriptor"/>s matching the given <paramref name="lookupText"/>.
+        /// Resolves <see cref="TagHelperDescriptor"/>s based on the given <paramref name="resolutionContext"/>.
         /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="lookupText">
-        /// A <see cref="string"/> used to find tag helper <see cref="Type"/>s.
+        /// <param name="resolutionContext">
+        /// <see cref="TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext"/> used to resolve descriptors for the Razor page. 
         /// </param>
-        /// <returns>An <see cref="IEnumerable{TagHelperDescriptor}"/> of <see cref="TagHelperDescriptor"/>s matching 
-        /// the given <paramref name="lookupText"/>.</returns>
-        IEnumerable<TagHelperDescriptor> Resolve(string lookupText);
+        /// <returns>An <see cref="IEnumerable{TagHelperDescriptor}"/> of <see cref="TagHelperDescriptor"/>s based 
+        /// on the given <paramref name="resolutionContext"/>.</returns>
+        IEnumerable<TagHelperDescriptor> Resolve(TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext resolutionContext);
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9a127edf55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.TagHelpers
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Contains information needed to resolve <see cref="TagHelperDescriptor"/>s.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Instantiates a new instance of <see cref="TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext"/>.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="directiveDescriptors"><see cref="TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor"/>s used to resolve
+        /// <see cref="TagHelperDescriptor"/>s.</param>
+        public TagHelperDescriptorResolutionContext(
+            [NotNull] IEnumerable<TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor> directiveDescriptors)
+        {
+            DirectiveDescriptors = new List<TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor>(directiveDescriptors);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// <see cref="TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor"/>s used to resolve <see cref="TagHelperDescriptor"/>s.
+        /// </summary>        
+        public IList<TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor> DirectiveDescriptors { get; private set; }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..efb9148592
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.TagHelpers
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Contains information needed to resolve <see cref="TagHelperDescriptor"/>s.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Instantiates a new instance of <see cref="TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor"/>.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="lookupText">A <see cref="string"/> used to find tag helper <see cref="System.Type"/>s.</param>
+        /// <param name="directiveType">The <see cref="TagHelperDirectiveType"/> of this directive.</param>
+        public TagHelperDirectiveDescriptor([NotNull] string lookupText, TagHelperDirectiveType directiveType)
+        {
+            LookupText = lookupText;
+            DirectiveType = directiveType;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// A <see cref="string"/> used to find tag helper <see cref="System.Type"/>s.
+        /// </summary>
+        public string LookupText { get; private set; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The <see cref="TagHelperDirectiveType"/> of this directive.
+        /// </summary>
+        public TagHelperDirectiveType DirectiveType { get; private set;  }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/TagHelperDirectiveType.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/TagHelperDirectiveType.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..88eb9eb9e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Razor/TagHelpers/TagHelperDirectiveType.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.TagHelpers
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The type of tag helper directive.
+    /// </summary>
+    public enum TagHelperDirectiveType
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// An @addtaghelper directive.
+        /// </summary>
+        AddTagHelper,
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// A @removetaghelper directive.
+        /// </summary>
+        RemoveTagHelper
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file