diff --git a/src/wp-includes/widgets.php b/src/wp-includes/widgets.php
index c2c3067ec9..a002d9d591 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/widgets.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/widgets.php
@@ -1117,6 +1117,9 @@ function the_widget( $widget, $instance = array(), $args = array() ) {
 		'after_title'   => '</h2>',
 	);
 	$args                  = wp_parse_args( $args, $default_args );
+
+	//Allow modifying widget args via filter hook 
+	$args = apply_filters( 'the_widget_args', $args );
 	$args['before_widget'] = sprintf( $args['before_widget'], $widget_obj->widget_options['classname'] );
 
 	$instance = wp_parse_args( $instance );