diff --git a/app/Widgets/Menu/Presenters/Menu.php b/app/Widgets/Menu/Presenters/Menu.php
index d2edc8e8..e86dd0fc 100644
--- a/app/Widgets/Menu/Presenters/Menu.php
+++ b/app/Widgets/Menu/Presenters/Menu.php
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ class Menu implements WidgetRenderer
                          ->get();
 
         // make object from JSON
-        $widget->settingsObj = json_decode($widget->settings);
+        $widget->settingsObj = $widget->settings;
         if (!isset($widget->settingsObj->links)) {
             $links = new \stdClass();
         } else {