diff --git a/datasette/views/table.py b/datasette/views/table.py
index 9798174e..22dca7e0 100644
--- a/datasette/views/table.py
+++ b/datasette/views/table.py
@@ -671,7 +671,7 @@ async def display_columns_and_rows(
     }
     pks = await db.primary_keys(table_name)
     pks_for_display = pks
-    if not pks_for_display:
+    if not pks_for_display and not await db.view_exists(table_name):
         pks_for_display = ["rowid"]
     label_column = None
     if link_column:
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 3c4a214d..4d0f719e 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Datasette plugins can now use **background tasks** to run code independent of th
 Bug fixes
 ~~~~~~~~~
 
+- The :ref:`render_cell() <plugin_hook_render_cell>` plugin hook now receives an empty ``pks`` list when rendering SQL views in HTML, matching the JSON ``?_extra=render_cell`` behavior. (:issue:`2639`)
 - Numeric comparison filters now correctly handle decimal values, negative numbers and scientific notation when filtering computed columns and SQL views. Thanks, `Rami Abdelrazzaq <https://github.com/RamiNoodle733>`__. (:issue:`1681`, :pr:`2876`)
 - Fixed CSV streaming with ``?_stream=on`` on SQL views repeating the second page of results until the CSV size limit was reached. Thanks, `Ankita Advitot <https://github.com/AnkitaAdvitot>`__. (:issue:`2902`, :pr:`2903`)
 
diff --git a/docs/plugin_hooks.rst b/docs/plugin_hooks.rst
index ae49fd9b..8a9ce5da 100644
--- a/docs/plugin_hooks.rst
+++ b/docs/plugin_hooks.rst
@@ -495,10 +495,10 @@ Lets you customize the display of values within table cells in the HTML table vi
     The name of the column being rendered
 
 ``table`` - string or None
-    The name of the table - or ``None`` if this is a custom SQL query
+    The name of the table or view - or ``None`` if this is a custom SQL query
 
 ``pks`` - list of strings
-    The primary key column names for the table being rendered. For tables without an explicitly defined primary key, this will be ``["rowid"]``. For custom SQL queries and views (where ``table`` is ``None``), this will be an empty list ``[]``.
+    The primary key column names for the table being rendered. For tables without an explicitly defined primary key, this will be ``["rowid"]``. For custom SQL queries and views, this will be an empty list ``[]``.
 
 ``database`` - string
     The name of the database