diff --git a/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl b/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl
index 8f1b9bf125..722214deae 100644
--- a/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pgfplotsx.jl
@@ -218,10 +218,12 @@ function (pgfx_plot::PGFPlotsXPlot)(plt::Plot{PGFPlotsXBackend})
                 push!(
                     axis_opt,
                     "unit vector ratio" =>
-                        if (ar = sp[:aspect_ratio]) !== :auto && ar !== :equal
-                            join(ar, ' ')
-                        else
+                        if (ar = sp[:aspect_ratio]) === :auto
+                            ""
+                        elseif ar === :equal
                             1
+                        else
+                            join(ar, ' ')
                         end,
                     "view" => tuple(sp[:camera]),
                 )