diff --git a/awx/main/fields.py b/awx/main/fields.py
index 6a746518d9..56c390aa8d 100644
--- a/awx/main/fields.py
+++ b/awx/main/fields.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import copy
 import json
 import re
 import six
+import urllib
 
 from jinja2 import Environment, StrictUndefined
 from jinja2.exceptions import UndefinedError
@@ -352,6 +353,7 @@ class SmartFilterField(models.TextField):
         # https://docs.python.org/2/library/stdtypes.html#truth-value-testing
         if not value:
             return None
+        value = urllib.unquote(value)
         try:
             SmartFilter().query_from_string(value)
         except RuntimeError, e:
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_inventory.py b/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_inventory.py
index c1b84401a5..c96bb8057c 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_inventory.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_inventory.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 import pytest
 import mock
 
@@ -236,6 +237,51 @@ def test_create_inventory_smart_inventory_sources(post, get, inventory, admin_us
     assert jdata['count'] == 0
 
 
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_urlencode_host_filter(post, admin_user, organization):
+    """
+    Host filters saved on the model must correspond to the same result
+    as when that host_filter is used in the URL as a querystring.
+    That means that it must be url-encoded patterns like %22 for quotes
+    must be escaped as the string is saved to the model.
+
+    Expected host filter in this test would match a host such as:
+    inventory.hosts.create(
+        ansible_facts={"ansible_distribution_version": "7.4"}
+    )
+    """
+    # Create smart inventory with host filter that corresponds to querystring
+    post(
+        reverse('api:inventory_list'),
+        data={
+            'name': 'smart inventory', 'kind': 'smart',
+            'organization': organization.pk,
+            'host_filter': 'ansible_facts__ansible_distribution_version=%227.4%22'
+        },
+        user=admin_user,
+        expect=201
+    )
+    # Assert that the saved version of host filter has escaped ""
+    si = Inventory.objects.get(name='smart inventory')
+    assert si.host_filter == 'ansible_facts__ansible_distribution_version="7.4"'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_host_filter_unicode(post, admin_user, organization):
+    post(
+        reverse('api:inventory_list'),
+        data={
+            'name': 'smart inventory', 'kind': 'smart',
+            'organization': organization.pk,
+            'host_filter': u'ansible_facts__ansible_distribution=レッドハット'
+        },
+        user=admin_user,
+        expect=201
+    )
+    si = Inventory.objects.get(name='smart inventory')
+    assert si.host_filter == u'ansible_facts__ansible_distribution=レッドハット'
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("role_field,expected_status_code", [
     (None, 403),
     ('admin_role', 201),