diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
index a04de73bd64e4..c6ce5f9591ad6 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
@@ -1954,10 +1954,7 @@ function wp_ajax_wp_link_ajax() {
 		wp_die( 0 );
 	}
 
-	echo wp_json_encode( $results );
-	echo "\n";
-
-	wp_die();
+	wp_send_json( $results );
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/post.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/post.php
index 39d267b623037..a4e007f82f267 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/post.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/post.php
@@ -1471,15 +1471,15 @@ function get_sample_permalink( $post, $title = null, $name = null ) {
 
 	$ptype = get_post_type_object( $post->post_type );
 
-	$original_status = $post->post_status;
 	$original_date   = $post->post_date;
 	$original_name   = $post->post_name;
 	$original_filter = $post->filter;
+	$post_status     = $post->post_status;
 
-	// Hack: get_permalink() would return plain permalink for drafts, so we will fake that our post is published.
+	// Drafts do not have unique slugs, so use a published status when determining the sample slug.
 	if ( in_array( $post->post_status, array( 'auto-draft', 'draft', 'pending', 'future' ), true ) ) {
-		$post->post_status = 'publish';
-		$post->post_name   = sanitize_title( $post->post_name ? $post->post_name : $post->post_title, $post->ID );
+		$post_status     = 'publish';
+		$post->post_name = sanitize_title( $post->post_name ? $post->post_name : $post->post_title, $post->ID );
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -1490,9 +1490,8 @@ function get_sample_permalink( $post, $title = null, $name = null ) {
 		$post->post_name = sanitize_title( $name ? $name : $title, $post->ID );
 	}
 
-	$post->post_name = wp_unique_post_slug( $post->post_name, $post->ID, $post->post_status, $post->post_type, $post->post_parent );
-
-	$post->filter = 'sample';
+	$post->post_name = wp_unique_post_slug( $post->post_name, $post->ID, $post_status, $post->post_type, $post->post_parent );
+	$post->filter    = 'sample';
 
 	$permalink = get_permalink( $post, true );
 
@@ -1517,11 +1516,10 @@ function get_sample_permalink( $post, $title = null, $name = null ) {
 	}
 
 	/** This filter is documented in wp-admin/edit-tag-form.php */
-	$permalink         = array( $permalink, apply_filters( 'editable_slug', $post->post_name, $post ) );
-	$post->post_status = $original_status;
-	$post->post_date   = $original_date;
-	$post->post_name   = $original_name;
-	$post->filter      = $original_filter;
+	$permalink       = array( $permalink, apply_filters( 'editable_slug', $post->post_name, $post ) );
+	$post->post_date = $original_date;
+	$post->post_name = $original_name;
+	$post->filter    = $original_filter;
 
 	/**
 	 * Filters the sample permalink.
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/link-template.php b/src/wp-includes/link-template.php
index 223d6b5548fc6..7455c38499d57 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/link-template.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/link-template.php
@@ -132,8 +132,8 @@ function wp_force_plain_post_permalink( $post = null, $sample = null ) {
 			$post_status_obj->private &&
 			current_user_can( 'read_post', $post->ID )
 		) ||
-		// Protected posts don't have plain links if getting a sample URL.
-		( $post_status_obj->protected && $sample )
+		// Protected posts and auto-drafts don't have plain links if getting a sample URL.
+		( $sample && ( $post_status_obj->protected || 'auto-draft' === $post->post_status ) )
 	) {
 		return false;
 	}
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/admin/includesPost.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/admin/includesPost.php
index d9d39d8da727d..077ac69c0e1f0 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/admin/includesPost.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/admin/includesPost.php
@@ -948,6 +948,53 @@ public function test_get_sample_permalink_should_respect_hierarchy_of_draft_page
 		$this->assertSame( 'child-page', $actual[1] );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Tests that get_sample_permalink() passes the original post status to permalink filters.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 50002
+	 *
+	 * @covers ::get_sample_permalink
+	 */
+	public function test_get_sample_permalink_should_pass_original_post_status_to_permalink_filters() {
+		$this->set_permalink_structure( '/%postname%/' );
+
+		$post = self::factory()->post->create_and_get(
+			array(
+				'post_status' => 'draft',
+				'post_title'  => 'A Draft Post',
+			)
+		);
+
+		$pre_post_link_status = null;
+		$post_link_status     = null;
+
+		add_filter(
+			'pre_post_link',
+			function ( $permalink, $filtered_post ) use ( &$pre_post_link_status ) {
+				$pre_post_link_status = $filtered_post->post_status;
+				return $permalink;
+			},
+			10,
+			2
+		);
+		add_filter(
+			'post_link',
+			function ( $permalink, $filtered_post ) use ( &$post_link_status ) {
+				$post_link_status = $filtered_post->post_status;
+				return $permalink;
+			},
+			10,
+			2
+		);
+
+		$actual = get_sample_permalink( $post );
+
+		$this->assertSame( 'draft', $pre_post_link_status );
+		$this->assertSame( 'draft', $post_link_status );
+		$this->assertSame( home_url( '/%postname%/' ), $actual[0] );
+		$this->assertSame( 'a-draft-post', $actual[1] );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Tests that get_sample_permalink() preserves the original WP_Post properties.
 	 *
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/ajax/wpAjaxWpLinkAjax.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/ajax/wpAjaxWpLinkAjax.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..bbb5ff4ce3d86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/ajax/wpAjaxWpLinkAjax.php
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * Tests for the wp_ajax_wp_link_ajax() function.
+ *
+ * @package WordPress
+ * @subpackage UnitTests
+ * @since 6.9.0
+ *
+ * @group ajax
+ *
+ * @covers ::wp_ajax_wp_link_ajax
+ */
+class Tests_Ajax_wpAjaxWpLinkAjax extends WP_Ajax_UnitTestCase {
+
+	/**
+	 * Tests that the response is sent as JSON.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 49408
+	 * @runInSeparateProcess
+	 * @preserveGlobalState disabled
+	 * @group xdebug
+	 * @requires function xdebug_get_headers
+	 */
+	public function test_response_is_sent_as_json() {
+		$this->_setRole( 'administrator' );
+
+		$_POST['_ajax_linking_nonce'] = wp_create_nonce( 'internal-linking' );
+
+		try {
+			$this->_handleAjax( 'wp-link-ajax' );
+		} catch ( WPAjaxDieContinueException $e ) {
+			unset( $e );
+		}
+
+		$this->assertIsArray( json_decode( $this->_last_response, true ) );
+		$this->assertContains( 'Content-Type: application/json; charset=' . get_option( 'blog_charset' ), xdebug_get_headers() );
+	}
+}