diff --git a/includes/Admin/Admin_Page.php b/includes/Admin/Admin_Page.php
index bf5c3d020..c36f81c00 100644
--- a/includes/Admin/Admin_Page.php
+++ b/includes/Admin/Admin_Page.php
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ public function render_page() {
 
 		// Get user settings for category preferences and set a default value to check all categories by default.
 		$user_settings = get_user_setting( 'plugin_check_category_preferences', 'all_categories' );
-		$user_settings = explode( '__', $user_settings );
+		$user_settings = 'all_categories' === $user_settings ? $categories : explode( '__', $user_settings );
 
 		require WP_PLUGIN_CHECK_PLUGIN_DIR_PATH . 'templates/admin-page.php';
 	}
diff --git a/templates/admin-page.php b/templates/admin-page.php
index 905a5b138..0f11986ba 100644
--- a/templates/admin-page.php
+++ b/templates/admin-page.php
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 							<fieldset>
 								<legend class="screen-reader-text"><?php echo esc_html( $category ); ?></legend>
 								<label for="<?php echo esc_attr( $category ); ?>">
-									<input type="checkbox" id="<?php echo esc_attr( $category ); ?>" name="categories" value="<?php echo esc_attr( $category ); ?>" <?php checked( in_array( 'all_categories', $user_settings, true ) || in_array( $category, $user_settings, true ) ); ?> />
+									<input type="checkbox" id="<?php echo esc_attr( $category ); ?>" name="categories" value="<?php echo esc_attr( $category ); ?>" <?php checked( in_array( $category, $user_settings, true ) ); ?> />
 									<?php echo esc_html( ucfirst( str_replace( '_', ' ', $category ) ) ); ?>
 								</label>
 							</fieldset>