diff --git a/datasette/app.py b/datasette/app.py
index 4db64c35..4b09b7d1 100644
--- a/datasette/app.py
+++ b/datasette/app.py
@@ -591,13 +591,7 @@ class Datasette:
             },
             **extra_template_vars,
         }
-        if request.args.get("_context") and self.config("template_debug"):
-            return Response.html(
-                "<pre>{}</pre>".format(
-                    escape(json.dumps(template_context, default=repr, indent=4))
-                )
-            )
-        return Response.html(await template.render_async(template_context))
+        return await template.render_async(template_context)
 
     def _asset_urls(self, key, template, context):
         # Flatten list-of-lists from plugins:
diff --git a/datasette/views/base.py b/datasette/views/base.py
index 4ac11247..32e6fdda 100644
--- a/datasette/views/base.py
+++ b/datasette/views/base.py
@@ -74,17 +74,22 @@ class BaseView(AsgiView):
 
     async def render(self, templates, request, context):
         template = self.ds.jinja_env.select_template(templates)
-        return await self.ds.render_template(
-            template,
-            {
+        template_context = {
                 **context,
                 **{
                     "database_url": self.database_url,
                     "database_color": self.database_color,
                 },
-            },
-            request=request,
-        )
+            }
+        if request and request.args.get("_context") and self.config("template_debug"):
+            return Response.html(
+                "<pre>{}</pre>".format(
+                    escape(json.dumps(template_context, default=repr, indent=4))
+                )
+            )
+        return Response.html(await self.ds.render_template(
+            template, template_context, request=request
+        ))
 
 
 class DataView(BaseView):