diff --git a/h5p/ajax.php b/h5p/ajax.php
index 29cbba05fb0..f02f098e5e1 100644
--- a/h5p/ajax.php
+++ b/h5p/ajax.php
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ switch ($action) {
         $minor = optional_param('minorVersion', 0, PARAM_INT);
 
         // Normalise Moodle language using underscore, as opposed to H5P which uses dash.
-        $language = optional_param('default-language', null, PARAM_RAW);
-        $language = clean_param(str_replace('-', '_', $language ?? ''), PARAM_LANG);
+        $language = optional_param('default-language', '', PARAM_RAW);
+        $language = clean_param(str_replace('-', '_', $language), PARAM_LANG);
 
         if (!empty($name)) {
             $editor->ajax->action(H5PEditorEndpoints::SINGLE_LIBRARY, $name,