diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/uses.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/uses.rb
index e5e140d361f248cfca69f4ebeafe9839184d6058..5f6611dfc5093f3bab70cac9e36f36bd80397797 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/uses.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/uses.rb
@@ -57,6 +57,12 @@ module Homebrew
               elsif dep.build?
                 Dependency.prune unless includes.include?("build?")
               end
+
+              # If a tap isn't installed, we can't find the dependencies of one
+              # its formulae, and an exception will be thrown if we try.
+              if dep.is_a?(TapDependency) && !dep.tap.installed?
+                Dependency.keep_but_prune_recursive_deps
+              end
             end
 
             dep_formulae = deps.map do |dep|
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/dependency.rb b/Library/Homebrew/dependency.rb
index 253ba4bee7683d3b9b57f5e160866c5ce0df0545..4a452440a7783428c4b49489cbe8ed7f31a88ffc 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/dependency.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/dependency.rb
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ class TapDependency < Dependency
   attr_reader :tap
 
   def initialize(name, tags = [], env_proc = DEFAULT_ENV_PROC, option_names = [name.split("/").last])
-    @tap = name.rpartition("/").first
+    @tap = Tap.fetch(name.rpartition("/").first)
     super(name, tags, env_proc, option_names)
   end
 
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/dependency_test.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/dependency_test.rb
index 65255995ec0460ccd2cc0707d43336e19557d024..134e91d1306edc5d6b04b5ed6a9d931846328db7 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/dependency_test.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/dependency_test.rb
@@ -118,6 +118,11 @@ class DependencyTests < Homebrew::TestCase
 end
 
 class TapDependencyTests < Homebrew::TestCase
+  def test_tap
+    dep = TapDependency.new("foo/bar/dog")
+    assert_equal Tap.new("foo", "bar"), dep.tap
+  end
+
   def test_option_names
     dep = TapDependency.new("foo/bar/dog")
     assert_equal %w[dog], dep.option_names