diff --git a/awx/ui_next/src/components/Search/Search.jsx b/awx/ui_next/src/components/Search/Search.jsx
index 25b450053c..d24bd1273c 100644
--- a/awx/ui_next/src/components/Search/Search.jsx
+++ b/awx/ui_next/src/components/Search/Search.jsx
@@ -187,13 +187,13 @@ class Search extends React.Component {
           queryParams[key].forEach(val =>
             queryParamsByKey[columnKey].chips.push({
               key: `${key}:${val}`,
-              node: <span>{getLabelFromValue(val, columnKey)}</span>,
+              node: getLabelFromValue(val, columnKey),
             })
           );
         } else {
           queryParamsByKey[columnKey].chips.push({
             key: `${key}:${queryParams[key]}`,
-            node: <span>{getLabelFromValue(queryParams[key], columnKey)}</span>,
+            node: getLabelFromValue(queryParams[key], columnKey),
           });
         }
       });
diff --git a/awx/ui_next/src/util/qs.test.js b/awx/ui_next/src/util/qs.test.js
index 1f711e30f6..763b07434c 100644
--- a/awx/ui_next/src/util/qs.test.js
+++ b/awx/ui_next/src/util/qs.test.js
@@ -652,6 +652,28 @@ describe('qs (qs.js)', () => {
       });
     });
 
+    it('should not remove empty string values', () => {
+      const oldParams = {
+        foo: '',
+      };
+      const newParams = {
+        foo: 'two',
+      };
+      expect(mergeParams(oldParams, newParams)).toEqual({
+        foo: ['', 'two'],
+      });
+
+      const oldParams2 = {
+        foo: 'one',
+      };
+      const newParams2 = {
+        foo: '',
+      };
+      expect(mergeParams(oldParams2, newParams2)).toEqual({
+        foo: ['one', ''],
+      });
+    });
+
     it('should retain unaltered params', () => {
       const oldParams = {
         foo: 'one',