diff --git a/src/wp-includes/general-template.php b/src/wp-includes/general-template.php
index 0b12a0c123..8e8ab2012b 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/general-template.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/general-template.php
@@ -209,19 +209,16 @@ function get_search_form( $args = array() ) {
 	 */
 	do_action( 'pre_get_search_form' );
 
-	$format = current_theme_supports( 'html5', 'search-form' ) ? 'html5' : 'xhtml';
-
-	/*
-	 * Back compat: to ensure previous uses of get_search_form continue to
-	 * function as expected, we handle a value for the boolean $echo param removed
-	 * in 5.2.0. Then we deal with the $args array and cast its defaults.
-	 */
 	$echo = true;
-	if ( false === $args ) {
-		$echo = false;
-	}
 
 	if ( ! is_array( $args ) ) {
+		/*
+		 * Back compat: to ensure previous uses of get_search_form() continue to
+		 * function as expected, we handle a value for the boolean $echo param removed
+		 * in 5.2.0. Then we deal with the $args array and cast its defaults.
+		 */
+		$echo = (bool) $args;
+
 		// Set an empty array and allow default arguments to take over.
 		$args = array();
 	}
@@ -243,6 +240,8 @@ function get_search_form( $args = array() ) {
 	 */
 	$args = apply_filters( 'search_form_args', $args );
 
+	$format = current_theme_supports( 'html5', 'search-form' ) ? 'html5' : 'xhtml';
+
 	/**
 	 * Filters the HTML format of the search form.
 	 *