diff --git a/core/modules/views/src/Controller/ViewAjaxController.php b/core/modules/views/src/Controller/ViewAjaxController.php
index 8b7d115fa5d..d765629d86e 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/src/Controller/ViewAjaxController.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/src/Controller/ViewAjaxController.php
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ class ViewAjaxController implements ContainerInjectionInterface {
     $name = $request->request->get('view_name');
     $display_id = $request->request->get('view_display_id');
     if (isset($name) && isset($display_id)) {
-      $args = Html::decodeEntities($request->request->get('view_args'));
-      $args = isset($args) && $args !== '' ? explode('/', $args) : [];
+      $args = $request->request->get('view_args', '');
+      $args = $args !== '' ? explode('/', Html::decodeEntities($args)) : [];
 
       // Arguments can be empty, make sure they are passed on as NULL so that
       // argument validation is not triggered.