diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/data/public/query/query_bar/components/query_bar_input.tsx b/src/legacy/core_plugins/data/public/query/query_bar/components/query_bar_input.tsx
index 50628a316209a..b8a8331b705a9 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/data/public/query/query_bar/components/query_bar_input.tsx
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/data/public/query/query_bar/components/query_bar_input.tsx
@@ -391,6 +391,11 @@ export class QueryBarInputUI extends Component<Props, State> {
   };
 
   public componentDidMount() {
+    const parsedQuery = fromUser(toUser(this.props.query.query));
+    if (!isEqual(this.props.query.query, parsedQuery)) {
+      this.onChange({ ...this.props.query, query: parsedQuery });
+    }
+
     this.persistedLog = this.props.persistedLog
       ? this.props.persistedLog
       : getQueryLog(this.props.uiSettings, this.props.appName, this.props.query.language);
@@ -399,6 +404,11 @@ export class QueryBarInputUI extends Component<Props, State> {
   }
 
   public componentDidUpdate(prevProps: Props) {
+    const parsedQuery = fromUser(toUser(this.props.query.query));
+    if (!isEqual(this.props.query.query, parsedQuery)) {
+      this.onChange({ ...this.props.query, query: parsedQuery });
+    }
+
     this.persistedLog = this.props.persistedLog
       ? this.props.persistedLog
       : getQueryLog(this.props.uiSettings, this.props.appName, this.props.query.language);
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/data/public/query/query_bar/lib/from_user.ts b/src/legacy/core_plugins/data/public/query/query_bar/lib/from_user.ts
index cc13e0afd885c..15eebaa0b9fd6 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/data/public/query/query_bar/lib/from_user.ts
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/data/public/query/query_bar/lib/from_user.ts
@@ -29,10 +29,6 @@ export function fromUser(userInput: object | string) {
   const matchAll = '';
 
   if (_.isObject(userInput)) {
-    // If we get an empty object, treat it as a *
-    if (!Object.keys(userInput).length) {
-      return matchAll;
-    }
     return userInput;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/migrations/migrations.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/migrations/migrations.js
index bd4340dbadb0f..03b2f5b898345 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/migrations/migrations.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/migrations/migrations.js
@@ -383,6 +383,39 @@ function migrateSearchSortToNestedArray(doc) {
   };
 }
 
+function migrateFiltersAggQueryStringQueries(doc) {
+  const visStateJSON = get(doc, 'attributes.visState');
+
+  if (visStateJSON) {
+    try {
+      const visState = JSON.parse(visStateJSON);
+      if (visState && visState.aggs) {
+        visState.aggs.forEach(agg => {
+          if (agg.type !== 'filters') return doc;
+
+          agg.params.filters.forEach(filter => {
+            if (filter.input.query.query_string) {
+              filter.input.query = filter.input.query.query_string.query;
+            }
+          });
+        });
+
+        return {
+          ...doc,
+          attributes: {
+            ...doc.attributes,
+            visState: JSON.stringify(visState),
+          },
+        };
+      }
+    } catch (e) {
+      // Let it go, the data is invalid and we'll leave it as is
+    }
+  }
+  return doc;
+
+}
+
 const executeMigrations720 = flow(
   migratePercentileRankAggregation,
   migrateDateHistogramAggregation
@@ -394,6 +427,10 @@ const executeMigrations730 = flow(
   replaceMovAvgToMovFn
 );
 
+const executeVisualizationMigrations731 = flow(
+  migrateFiltersAggQueryStringQueries,
+);
+
 const executeSearchMigrations740 = flow(
   migrateSearchSortToNestedArray,
 );
@@ -503,6 +540,7 @@ export const migrations = {
     '7.0.1': removeDateHistogramTimeZones,
     '7.2.0': doc => executeMigrations720(doc),
     '7.3.0': executeMigrations730,
+    '7.3.1': executeVisualizationMigrations731,
   },
   dashboard: {
     '7.0.0': doc => {
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/migrations/migrations.test.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/migrations/migrations.test.js
index 0776b6028641f..77a4c7eabe86e 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/migrations/migrations.test.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/kibana/migrations/migrations.test.js
@@ -1143,6 +1143,43 @@ Array [
       expect(series[0].filter).toEqual(params.series[0].filter);
     });
   });
+
+  describe('7.3.1', () => {
+    const migrate = migrations.visualization['7.3.1'];
+
+    it('should migrate filters agg query string queries', () => {
+      const state = {
+        aggs: [
+          { type: 'count', params: {} },
+          {
+            type: 'filters',
+            params: {
+              filters: [{
+                input: {
+                  query: {
+                    query_string: { query: 'machine.os.keyword:\"win 8\"' }
+                  }
+                }
+              }]
+            }
+          }
+        ],
+      };
+      const expected = {
+        aggs: [
+          { type: 'count', params: {} },
+          {
+            type: 'filters',
+            params: {
+              filters: [{ input: { query: 'machine.os.keyword:\"win 8\"' } }]
+            }
+          }
+        ],
+      };
+      const migratedDoc = migrate({ attributes: { visState: JSON.stringify(state) } });
+      expect(migratedDoc).toEqual({ attributes: { visState: JSON.stringify(expected) } });
+    });
+  });
 });
 
 describe('dashboard', () => {