diff --git a/artiq/browser/experiments.py b/artiq/browser/experiments.py
index a67b93736..e20c1dfae 100644
--- a/artiq/browser/experiments.py
+++ b/artiq/browser/experiments.py
@@ -285,8 +285,8 @@ class _ExperimentDock(QtWidgets.QMdiSubWindow):
         state = self.argeditor.save_state()
         self.argeditor.deleteLater()
         self.argeditor = _ArgumentEditor(self)
-        self.argeditor.restore_state(state)
         self.layout.addWidget(self.argeditor, 0, 0, 1, 5)
+        self.argeditor.restore_state(state)
 
     async def load_hdf5_task(self, filename=None):
         if filename is None:
diff --git a/artiq/dashboard/experiments.py b/artiq/dashboard/experiments.py
index 8a0da9fd0..892cbe6c9 100644
--- a/artiq/dashboard/experiments.py
+++ b/artiq/dashboard/experiments.py
@@ -422,8 +422,8 @@ class _ExperimentDock(QtWidgets.QMdiSubWindow):
 
         editor_class = self.manager.get_argument_editor_class(self.expurl)
         self.argeditor = editor_class(self.manager, self, self.expurl)
-        self.argeditor.restore_state(argeditor_state)
         self.layout.addWidget(self.argeditor, 0, 0, 1, 5)
+        self.argeditor.restore_state(argeditor_state)
 
     def contextMenuEvent(self, event):
         menu = QtWidgets.QMenu(self)