diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/deps.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/deps.rb
index a26dca03ca..b260300822 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/deps.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/deps.rb
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ module Homebrew extend self
       end
     else
       raise FormulaUnspecifiedError if ARGV.named.empty?
-      all_deps = ARGV.formulae.map{ |f| ARGV.one? ? f.deps : f.recursive_deps }.intersection
+      all_deps = ARGV.formulae.map do |f|
+        ARGV.one? ? f.deps : f.recursive_deps
+      end.intersection.map(&:name)
       all_deps.sort! unless ARGV.include? "-n"
       puts all_deps
     end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/dependencies.rb b/Library/Homebrew/dependencies.rb
index 8b4916279b..623591c786 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/dependencies.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/dependencies.rb
@@ -145,27 +145,23 @@ class Dependency
 
   def initialize(name, *tags)
     @name = name
-    @tags = [tags].flatten.compact
-  end
-
-  def hash
-    @name.hash
+    @tags = tags.flatten.compact
   end
 
   def to_s
-    @name
+    name
   end
 
   def ==(other)
-    @name == other.to_s
-  end
-
-  def <=>(other)
-    @name <=> other.to_s
+    name == other.name
   end
 
   def eql?(other)
-    other.is_a? self.class and hash == other.hash
+    other.is_a?(self.class) && hash == other.hash
+  end
+
+  def hash
+    name.hash
   end
 end
 
@@ -199,7 +195,7 @@ class Requirement
   end
 
   def eql?(other)
-    other.is_a? self.class and hash == other.hash
+    other.is_a?(self.class) && hash == other.hash
   end
 
   def hash
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_dependencies.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_dependencies.rb
index ebfd8ac01c..68c4043cbb 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_dependencies.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_dependencies.rb
@@ -75,17 +75,48 @@ end
 class DependableTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def setup
     @tags = ["foo", "bar", :build]
-    @deps = Struct.new(:tags).new(@tags)
-    @deps.extend(Dependable)
+    @dep = Struct.new(:tags).new(@tags).extend(Dependable)
   end
 
   def test_options
-    assert_equal %w{--foo --bar}.sort, @deps.options.sort
+    assert_equal %w{--foo --bar}.sort, @dep.options.sort
   end
 
   def test_interrogation
-    assert @deps.build?
-    assert !@deps.optional?
-    assert !@deps.recommended?
+    assert @dep.build?
+    assert !@dep.optional?
+    assert !@dep.recommended?
+  end
+end
+
+class DependencyTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def test_accepts_single_tag
+    dep = Dependency.new("foo", "bar")
+    assert_equal %w{bar}, dep.tags
+  end
+
+  def test_accepts_multiple_tags
+    dep = Dependency.new("foo", %w{bar baz})
+    assert_equal %w{bar baz}.sort, dep.tags.sort
+  end
+
+  def test_preserves_symbol_tags
+    dep = Dependency.new("foo", :build)
+    assert_equal [:build], dep.tags
+  end
+
+  def test_accepts_symbol_and_string_tags
+    dep = Dependency.new("foo", [:build, "bar"])
+    assert_equal [:build, "bar"], dep.tags
+  end
+
+  def test_equality
+    foo1 = Dependency.new("foo")
+    foo2 = Dependency.new("foo")
+    bar = Dependency.new("bar")
+    assert_equal foo1, foo2
+    assert foo1.eql?(foo2)
+    assert_not_equal foo1, bar
+    assert !foo1.eql?(bar)
   end
 end