diff --git a/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-index.php b/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-index.php
index d558870bb0..4ec1b07d92 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-index.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-index.php
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ class WP_Sitemaps_Index {
 		global $wp_rewrite;
 
 		if ( ! $wp_rewrite->using_permalinks() ) {
-			return add_query_arg( 'sitemap', 'index', home_url( '/' ) );
+			return home_url( '/?sitemap=index' );
 		}
 
 		return home_url( '/wp-sitemap.xml' );
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-provider.php b/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-provider.php
index 924aca068c..4a879c4f38 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-provider.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-provider.php
@@ -145,34 +145,33 @@ abstract class WP_Sitemaps_Provider {
 	public function get_sitemap_url( $name, $page ) {
 		global $wp_rewrite;
 
+		// Accounts for cases where name is not included, ex: sitemaps-users-1.xml.
+		$params = array_filter(
+			array(
+				'sitemap'         => $this->name,
+				'sitemap-subtype' => $name,
+				'paged'           => $page,
+			)
+		);
+
 		if ( ! $wp_rewrite->using_permalinks() ) {
-			return add_query_arg(
-				// Accounts for cases where name is not included, ex: sitemaps-users-1.xml.
-				array_filter(
-					array(
-						'sitemap'         => $this->name,
-						'sitemap-subtype' => $name,
-						'paged'           => $page,
-					)
-				),
-				home_url( '/' )
+			array_walk(
+				$params,
+				function ( &$value, $key ) {
+					$value = "$key=$value";
+				}
 			);
-		}
 
-		$basename = sprintf(
-			'/wp-sitemap-%1$s.xml',
-			implode(
-				'-',
-				// Accounts for cases where name is not included, ex: sitemaps-users-1.xml.
-				array_filter(
-					array(
-						$this->name,
-						$name,
-						(string) $page,
-					)
-				)
-			)
-		);
+			$basename = sprintf(
+				'/?%1$s',
+				implode( '&', $params )
+			);
+		} else {
+			$basename = sprintf(
+				'/wp-sitemap-%1$s.xml',
+				implode( '-', $params )
+			);
+		}
 
 		return home_url( $basename );
 	}
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-renderer.php b/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-renderer.php
index c313585d22..0069b11126 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-renderer.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/sitemaps/class-wp-sitemaps-renderer.php
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ class WP_Sitemaps_Renderer {
 		$sitemap_url = home_url( '/wp-sitemap.xsl' );
 
 		if ( ! $wp_rewrite->using_permalinks() ) {
-			$sitemap_url = add_query_arg( 'sitemap-stylesheet', 'sitemap', home_url( '/' ) );
+			$sitemap_url = home_url( '/?sitemap-stylesheet=sitemap' );
 		}
 
 		/**
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ class WP_Sitemaps_Renderer {
 		$sitemap_url = home_url( '/wp-sitemap-index.xsl' );
 
 		if ( ! $wp_rewrite->using_permalinks() ) {
-			$sitemap_url = add_query_arg( 'sitemap-stylesheet', 'index', home_url( '/' ) );
+			$sitemap_url = home_url( '/?sitemap-stylesheet=index' );
 		}
 
 		/**