diff --git a/datasette/static/table.js b/datasette/static/table.js
index aef694b5..e2f4c2d5 100644
--- a/datasette/static/table.js
+++ b/datasette/static/table.js
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ function buildColumnActionItems(manager, th, options) {
   var column = th.dataset.column;
   var columnActions = [];
   var isSortable = !!th.querySelector("a");
-  var isFirstColumn = th.parentElement.querySelector("th:first-of-type") === th;
+  var isLinkColumn = th.dataset.isLinkColumn === "1";
   var isSinglePk =
     th.dataset.isPk === "1" &&
     document.querySelectorAll('th[data-is-pk="1"]').length === 1;
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ function buildColumnActionItems(manager, th, options) {
 
   if (
     DATASETTE_ALLOW_FACET &&
-    !isFirstColumn &&
+    !isLinkColumn &&
     !getDisplayedFacets().includes(column) &&
     !isSinglePk
   ) {
diff --git a/tests/test_playwright.py b/tests/test_playwright.py
index 665ed32a..f124ce9f 100644
--- a/tests/test_playwright.py
+++ b/tests/test_playwright.py
@@ -2301,3 +2301,16 @@ def test_menu_long_plugin_content_and_no_popover_fallback(page, datasette_server
     assert panel.evaluate("node => node.scrollTop > 0")
     page.keyboard.press("Escape")
     expect(panel).not_to_be_visible()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.playwright
+def test_column_menu_facet_by_first_column_of_view(page, datasette_server):
+    # https://github.com/simonw/datasette/issues/1785
+    from playwright.sync_api import expect
+
+    panel = page.locator("#column-actions-menu")
+    page.goto(datasette_server + "fixtures/paginated_view")
+    page.locator('th[data-column="content"] .column-menu-trigger').click()
+    expect(
+        panel.get_by_role("menuitem", name="Facet by this", exact=True)
+    ).to_be_visible()