diff --git a/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php b/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
index bed3894334..7fa4076acf 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
@@ -1877,6 +1877,8 @@ function wp_get_object_terms($object_ids, $taxonomies, $args = array()) {
 		$object_ids = array($object_ids);
 	$object_ids = array_map('intval', $object_ids);
 
+	$args = wp_parse_args( $args );
+
 	$args['taxonomy'] = $taxonomies;
 	$args['object_ids'] = $object_ids;
 
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/term/wpGetObjectTerms.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/term/wpGetObjectTerms.php
index a03550157c..95c8abcb62 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/term/wpGetObjectTerms.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/term/wpGetObjectTerms.php
@@ -690,4 +690,27 @@ class Tests_Term_WpGetObjectTerms extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		// all terms should still be objects
 		return $terms;
 	}
+
+	public function test_verify_args_parameter_can_be_string() {
+		$p = self::factory()->post->create();
+
+		$t1 = self::factory()->term->create( array(
+			'taxonomy' => $this->taxonomy,
+			'name' => 'AAA',
+		) );
+		$t2 = self::factory()->term->create( array(
+			'taxonomy' => $this->taxonomy,
+			'name' => 'ZZZ',
+		) );
+		$t3 = self::factory()->term->create( array(
+			'taxonomy' => $this->taxonomy,
+			'name' => 'JJJ',
+		) );
+
+		wp_set_object_terms( $p, array( $t1, $t2, $t3 ), $this->taxonomy );
+
+		$found = wp_get_object_terms( $p, $this->taxonomy, 'orderby=name&fields=ids' );
+
+		$this->assertEquals( array( $t1, $t3, $t2 ), $found );
+	}
 }