diff --git a/library/Icingadb/Web/Controller.php b/library/Icingadb/Web/Controller.php
index 49bd1c799..c8765ef7d 100644
--- a/library/Icingadb/Web/Controller.php
+++ b/library/Icingadb/Web/Controller.php
@@ -87,12 +87,13 @@ public function createColumnControl(Query $query, ViewModeSwitcher $viewModeSwit
     {
         // All of that is essentially what `ColumnControl::apply()` should do
         $viewMode = $this->getRequest()->getUrl()->getParam($viewModeSwitcher->getViewModeParam());
-        $columnsDef = $this->params->shift('columns');
-        if (! $columnsDef) {
-            if ($viewMode === 'tabular') {
-                $this->httpBadRequest('Missing parameter "columns"');
-            }
 
+        if ($viewMode === 'tabular' && ! $this->params->has('columns')) {
+            $this->httpBadRequest('Missing parameter "columns"');
+        }
+
+        $columnsDef = $this->params->shift('columns');
+        if (empty($columnsDef) || $columnsDef === '1') {
             return [];
         }