diff --git a/datasette/views/table.py b/datasette/views/table.py
index 652ce994..44b186cf 100644
--- a/datasette/views/table.py
+++ b/datasette/views/table.py
@@ -721,7 +721,7 @@ class TableView(RowTableShared):
             for arg in ("_fts_table", "_fts_pk"):
                 if arg in special_args:
                     form_hidden_args.append((arg, special_args[arg]))
-            if request.args["_where"]:
+            if request.args.get("_where"):
                 for where_text in request.args["_where"]:
                     form_hidden_args.append(("_where", where_text))
             return {