diff --git a/includes/ajax.inc b/includes/ajax.inc
index ab0111c..2d2d369 100644
--- a/includes/ajax.inc
+++ b/includes/ajax.inc
@@ -247,6 +247,10 @@ function ajax_render($commands = array()) {
       $function = 'drupal_add_' . $type;
       $items[$type] = $function();
       drupal_alter($type, $items[$type]);
+      // If (altered) JS settings available, save them for later usage.
+      if (!empty($items['js']['settings'])) {
+        $js_settings = $items['js']['settings'];
+      }
       // @todo Inline CSS and JS items are indexed numerically. These can't be
       //   reliably diffed with array_diff_key(), since the number can change
       //   due to factors unrelated to the inline content, so for now, we strip
@@ -288,11 +292,18 @@ function ajax_render($commands = array()) {
     $commands = array_merge($extra_commands, $commands);
   }
 
+  if (!isset($js_settings)) {
+    // We skipped altering above, do it here.
+    $scripts = drupal_add_js();
+    drupal_alter('js', $scripts);
+    if (!empty($scripts['settings'])) {
+      $js_settings = $scripts['settings'];
+    }
+  }
+
   // Now add a command to merge changes and additions to Drupal.settings.
-  $scripts = drupal_add_js();
-  if (!empty($scripts['settings'])) {
-    $settings = $scripts['settings'];
-    array_unshift($commands, ajax_command_settings(call_user_func_array('array_merge_recursive', $settings['data']), TRUE));
+  if (isset($js_settings)) {
+    array_unshift($commands, ajax_command_settings(call_user_func_array('array_merge_recursive', $js_settings['data']), TRUE));
   }
 
   // Allow modules to alter any Ajax response.