diff --git a/jenkins/helper/test_config.py b/jenkins/helper/test_config.py
index c68c91d8..5ecd684a 100644
--- a/jenkins/helper/test_config.py
+++ b/jenkins/helper/test_config.py
@@ -67,7 +67,10 @@ def __init__(self,
         # the yaml work around is to have an A prepended. detect and strip out:
         if arangosh_args is not None and len(arangosh_args) > 0 and arangosh_args != 'A ""':
             print(arangosh_args)
-            self.arangosh_args = json.loads(arangosh_args[1:])
+            if isinstance(arangosh_args, list):
+                self.arangosh_args = arangosh_args
+            else:
+                self.arangosh_args = json.loads(arangosh_args[1:])
         self.args = copy.deepcopy(cfg.extra_args)
         for param in args:
             if param.startswith('$'):