diff --git a/lib/awful/widget/taglist.lua b/lib/awful/widget/taglist.lua
index 80690bda..0fd08ab1 100644
--- a/lib/awful/widget/taglist.lua
+++ b/lib/awful/widget/taglist.lua
@@ -400,7 +400,9 @@ local function taglist_update(s, w, buttons, filter, data, style, update_functio
 
     local function label(c) return taglist.taglist_label(c, style) end
 
-    update_function(w, buttons, label, data, tags, args)
+    update_function(w, buttons, label, data, tags, {
+        widget_template = args.widget_template,
+    })
 end
 
 --- Create a new taglist widget. The last two arguments (update_function
diff --git a/lib/awful/widget/tasklist.lua b/lib/awful/widget/tasklist.lua
index 825e36b2..d1141aa3 100644
--- a/lib/awful/widget/tasklist.lua
+++ b/lib/awful/widget/tasklist.lua
@@ -417,7 +417,9 @@ local function tasklist_update(s, w, buttons, filter, data, style, update_functi
 
     local function label(c, tb) return tasklist_label(c, style, tb) end
 
-    update_function(w, buttons, label, data, clients, args)
+    update_function(w, buttons, label, data, clients, {
+        widget_template = args.widget_template,
+    })
 end
 
 --- Create a new tasklist widget.