diff --git a/awx/api/serializers.py b/awx/api/serializers.py
index bb74b4c764..51cd7c8bbb 100644
--- a/awx/api/serializers.py
+++ b/awx/api/serializers.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ from awx.main.constants import (
 )
 from awx.main.models import * # noqa
 from awx.main.models.base import NEW_JOB_TYPE_CHOICES
-from awx.main.fields import ImplicitRoleField
+from awx.main.fields import ImplicitRoleField, JSONBField
 from awx.main.utils import (
     get_type_for_model, get_model_for_type, timestamp_apiformat,
     camelcase_to_underscore, getattrd, parse_yaml_or_json,
@@ -1542,6 +1542,18 @@ class InventorySerializer(BaseSerializerWithVariables):
     def validate_host_filter(self, host_filter):
         if host_filter:
             try:
+                for match in JSONBField.get_lookups().keys():
+                    if match == 'exact':
+                        # __exact is allowed
+                        continue
+                    match = '__{}'.format(match)
+                    if re.match(
+                        'ansible_facts[^=]+{}='.format(match),
+                        host_filter
+                    ):
+                        raise models.base.ValidationError({
+                            'host_filter': 'ansible_facts does not support searching with {}'.format(match)
+                        })
                 SmartFilter().query_from_string(host_filter)
             except RuntimeError as e:
                 raise models.base.ValidationError(e)
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_inventory.py b/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_inventory.py
index a9cecf8ba0..23ed3a4f7d 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_inventory.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_inventory.py
@@ -281,6 +281,36 @@ def test_host_filter_unicode(post, admin_user, organization):
     assert si.host_filter == u'ansible_facts__ansible_distribution=レッドハット'
 
 
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("lookup", ['icontains', 'has_keys'])
+def test_host_filter_invalid_ansible_facts_lookup(post, admin_user, organization, lookup):
+    resp = post(
+        reverse('api:inventory_list'),
+        data={
+            'name': 'smart inventory', 'kind': 'smart',
+            'organization': organization.pk,
+            'host_filter': u'ansible_facts__ansible_distribution__{}=cent'.format(lookup)
+        },
+        user=admin_user,
+        expect=400
+    )
+    assert 'ansible_facts does not support searching with __{}'.format(lookup) in json.dumps(resp.data)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_host_filter_ansible_facts_exact(post, admin_user, organization):
+    post(
+        reverse('api:inventory_list'),
+        data={
+            'name': 'smart inventory', 'kind': 'smart',
+            'organization': organization.pk,
+            'host_filter': 'ansible_facts__ansible_distribution__exact="CentOS"'
+        },
+        user=admin_user,
+        expect=201
+    )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("role_field,expected_status_code", [
     (None, 403),
     ('admin_role', 201),
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_filters.py b/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_filters.py
index ec59eee9e4..22444ab1b9 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_filters.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_filters.py
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ class TestSmartFilterQueryFromString():
         ('a__b__c=false', Q(**{u"a__b__c": False})),
         ('a__b__c=null', Q(**{u"a__b__c": None})),
         ('ansible_facts__a="true"', Q(**{u"ansible_facts__contains": {u"a": u"true"}})),
+        ('ansible_facts__a__exact="true"', Q(**{u"ansible_facts__contains": {u"a": u"true"}})),
         #('"a__b\"__c"="true"', Q(**{u"a__b\"__c": "true"})),
         #('a__b\"__c="true"', Q(**{u"a__b\"__c": "true"})),
     ])
diff --git a/awx/main/utils/filters.py b/awx/main/utils/filters.py
index faa1eca8fe..80f197390b 100644
--- a/awx/main/utils/filters.py
+++ b/awx/main/utils/filters.py
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ from pyparsing import (
     CharsNotIn,
     ParseException,
 )
+import logging
 from logging import Filter, _nameToLevel
 
-
 from django.apps import apps
 from django.db import models
 from django.conf import settings
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ from awx.main.utils.common import get_search_fields
 
 __all__ = ['SmartFilter', 'ExternalLoggerEnabled']
 
+logger = logging.getLogger('awx.main.utils')
+
 
 class FieldFromSettings(object):
     """
@@ -171,10 +173,25 @@ class SmartFilter(object):
               relationship refered to to see if it's a jsonb type.
         '''
         def _json_path_to_contains(self, k, v):
+            from awx.main.fields import JSONBField  # avoid a circular import
             if not k.startswith(SmartFilter.SEARCHABLE_RELATIONSHIP):
                 v = self.strip_quotes_traditional_logic(v)
                 return (k, v)
 
+            for match in JSONBField.get_lookups().keys():
+                match = '__{}'.format(match)
+                if k.endswith(match):
+                    if match == '__exact':
+                        # appending __exact is basically a no-op, because that's
+                        # what the query means if you leave it off
+                        k = k[:-len(match)]
+                    logger.error(
+                        'host_filter:{} does not support searching with {}'.format(
+                            SmartFilter.SEARCHABLE_RELATIONSHIP,
+                            match
+                        )
+                    )
+
             # Strip off leading relationship key
             if k.startswith(SmartFilter.SEARCHABLE_RELATIONSHIP + '__'):
                 strip_len = len(SmartFilter.SEARCHABLE_RELATIONSHIP) + 2