diff --git a/awx/ui/client/src/shared/smart-search/smart-search.controller.js b/awx/ui/client/src/shared/smart-search/smart-search.controller.js
index c3898dac41..6f5488ad1d 100644
--- a/awx/ui/client/src/shared/smart-search/smart-search.controller.js
+++ b/awx/ui/client/src/shared/smart-search/smart-search.controller.js
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ export default ['$stateParams', '$scope', '$state', 'GetBasePath', 'QuerySet', '
                 let splitTerms;
 
                 if ($scope.singleSearchParam === 'host_filter') {
-                    splitTerms = SmartSearchService.splitHostIntoTerms(terms);
+                    splitTerms = SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms(terms);
                 } else {
                     splitTerms = SmartSearchService.splitSearchIntoTerms(terms);
                 }
diff --git a/awx/ui/client/src/shared/smart-search/smart-search.service.js b/awx/ui/client/src/shared/smart-search/smart-search.service.js
index 1fea6ab4c6..8e7b57271d 100644
--- a/awx/ui/client/src/shared/smart-search/smart-search.service.js
+++ b/awx/ui/client/src/shared/smart-search/smart-search.service.js
@@ -6,20 +6,26 @@ export default [function() {
          * work is done to encode quotes in quoted values and the spaces within those quoted
          * values before calling to `splitSearchIntoTerms`.
          */
-        splitHostIntoTerms (searchString) {
+        splitFilterIntoTerms (searchString) {
+            if (!searchString) {
+                return null;
+            }
+
             let groups = [];
             let quoted;
 
             searchString.split(' ').forEach(substring => {
-                if (substring.includes(':"')) {
-                    quoted = substring;
+                if (/:"/g.test(substring)) {
+                    if (/"$/.test(substring)) {
+                        groups.push(this.encode(substring));
+                    } else {
+                        quoted = substring;
+                    }
                 } else if (quoted) {
                     quoted += ` ${substring}`;
 
-                    if (substring.includes('"')) {
-                        quoted = quoted.replace(/"/g, encodeURIComponent('"'));
-                        quoted = quoted.replace(/ /g, encodeURIComponent(' '));
-                        groups.push(quoted);
+                    if (/"/g.test(substring)) {
+                        groups.push(this.encode(quoted));
                         quoted = undefined;
                     }
                 } else {
@@ -29,6 +35,11 @@ export default [function() {
 
             return this.splitSearchIntoTerms(groups.join(' '));
         },
+        encode (string) {
+            string = string.replace(/'/g, '%27');
+
+            return string.replace(/("| )/g, match => encodeURIComponent(match));
+        },
         splitSearchIntoTerms(searchString) {
             return searchString.match(/(?:[^\s"']+|"[^"]*"|'[^']*')+/g);
         },
diff --git a/awx/ui/tests/spec/smart-search/smart-search.service-test.js b/awx/ui/tests/spec/smart-search/smart-search.service-test.js
index 13af06e51c..cd7aef4848 100644
--- a/awx/ui/tests/spec/smart-search/smart-search.service-test.js
+++ b/awx/ui/tests/spec/smart-search/smart-search.service-test.js
@@ -42,4 +42,22 @@ describe('Service: SmartSearch', () => {
         });
     });
 
+    describe('fn splitFilterIntoTerms', () => {
+        it('should convert the filter term to a key and value with encode quotes and spaces', () => {
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms()).toEqual(null);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('foo')).toEqual(["foo"]);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('foo bar')).toEqual(["foo", "bar"]);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:foo bar')).toEqual(["name:foo", "bar"]);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:foo description:bar')).toEqual(["name:foo", "description:bar"]);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:"foo bar"')).toEqual(["name:%22foo%20bar%22"]);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:"foo bar" description:"bar foo"')).toEqual(["name:%22foo%20bar%22", "description:%22bar%20foo%22"]);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:"foo bar" a b c')).toEqual(["name:%22foo%20bar%22", 'a', 'b', 'c']);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:"1"')).toEqual(["name:%221%22"]);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:1')).toEqual(["name:1"]);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:"foo ba\'r" a b c')).toEqual(["name:%22foo%20ba%27r%22", 'a', 'b', 'c']);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:"foobar" other:"barbaz"')).toEqual(["name:%22foobar%22", "other:%22barbaz%22"]);
+            expect(SmartSearchService.splitFilterIntoTerms('name:"foobar" other:"bar baz"')).toEqual(["name:%22foobar%22", "other:%22bar%20baz%22"]);
+        });
+    });
+
 });