diff --git a/public/lib/workpad_service.js b/public/lib/workpad_service.js
index 0156f52f795af..028058168291c 100644
--- a/public/lib/workpad_service.js
+++ b/public/lib/workpad_service.js
@@ -23,5 +23,6 @@ export function remove(id) {
 }
 
 export function find(searchTerm) {
-  return fetch.get(`${apiPath}/find?name=${_get(searchTerm, 'length') ? searchTerm : '*'}`).then(resp => resp.data);
+  return fetch.get(`${apiPath}/find?name=${_get(searchTerm, 'length') ? searchTerm : '*'}`)
+  .then(resp => resp.data);
 }
diff --git a/public/state/actions/elements.js b/public/state/actions/elements.js
index 0e6df6bc85407..162e7e6c12fc7 100644
--- a/public/state/actions/elements.js
+++ b/public/state/actions/elements.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { createAction } from 'redux-actions';
-import { get, omit } from 'lodash';
+import { get, pick } from 'lodash';
 import { set, del } from 'object-path-immutable';
 import { createThunk } from 'redux-thunks';
 import * as args from './resolved_args';
@@ -51,6 +51,12 @@ function getSiblingContext(state, elementId, checkIndex) {
   return getSiblingContext(state, elementId, prevContextIndex);
 }
 
+function getBareElement(el, includeId = false) {
+  const props = ['position', 'expression', 'filters'];
+  if (includeId) return pick(el, props.concat('id'));
+  return pick(el, props);
+}
+
 export const elementLayer = createAction('elementLayer');
 
 export const setPosition = createAction('setPosition', (elementId, pageId, position) => ({ pageId, elementId, position }));
@@ -136,7 +142,7 @@ export const fetchAllRenderables = createThunk('fetchAllRenderables', ({ dispatc
 });
 
 export const duplicateElement = createThunk('duplicateElement', ({ dispatch, type }, element, pageId) => {
-  const newElement = Object.assign({}, getDefaultElement(), omit(element, 'id'));
+  const newElement = Object.assign({}, getDefaultElement(), getBareElement(element));
   // move the element so users can see that it was added
   newElement.position.top = newElement.position.top + 10;
   newElement.position.left = newElement.position.left + 10;
@@ -270,7 +276,7 @@ export const deleteArgumentAtIndex = createThunk('deleteArgumentAtIndex', ({ dis
   payload: element defaults. Eg {expression: 'foo'}
 */
 export const addElement = createThunk('addElement', ({ dispatch }, pageId, element) => {
-  const newElement = Object.assign({}, getDefaultElement(), omit(element, 'id'));
+  const newElement = Object.assign({}, getDefaultElement(), getBareElement(element));
   const _addElement = createAction('addElement');
   dispatch(_addElement({ pageId, element: newElement }));
 
diff --git a/public/state/actions/workpad.js b/public/state/actions/workpad.js
index e12bde9a8483b..0382cf4957966 100644
--- a/public/state/actions/workpad.js
+++ b/public/state/actions/workpad.js
@@ -45,17 +45,10 @@ export const loadWorkpadById = createThunk('loadWorkpadById', ({ dispatch }, wor
 
 export const downloadWorkpadById = createThunk('downloadWorkpadbyId', ({ dispatch }, workpadId) => {
   // TODO: handle the failed loading state
-  workpadService.get(workpadId).then(resp => {
-    console.log(resp);
-    fileSaver.saveAs(new Blob([JSON.stringify(resp)], { type: 'application/json' }), `canvas-workpad-${resp.name}-${resp.id}.json`);
-  });
-});
-
-export const downloadWorkpad = createThunk('downloadWorkpad', ({ dispatch }, workpadId) => {
-  // TODO: handle the failed loading state
-  workpadService.get(workpadId).then(resp => {
-    console.log(resp);
-    fileSaver.saveAs(new Blob([JSON.stringify(resp)], { type: 'application/json' }), `canvas-workpad-${resp.name}-${resp.id}.json`);
+  workpadService.get(workpadId)
+  .then(resp => {
+    const jsonBlob = new Blob([JSON.stringify(resp)], { type: 'application/json' });
+    fileSaver.saveAs(jsonBlob, `canvas-workpad-${resp.name}-${resp.id}.json`);
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/public/state/selectors/workpad.js b/public/state/selectors/workpad.js
index a8d4d63559f75..2486416229af7 100644
--- a/public/state/selectors/workpad.js
+++ b/public/state/selectors/workpad.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { get, find, findIndex, map } from 'lodash';
+import { get, find, findIndex, map, omit } from 'lodash';
 import { safeElementFromExpression } from '../../../common/lib/ast';
 import { append } from '../../lib/modify_path';
 import { getAssets } from './assets';
@@ -76,8 +76,12 @@ export function getElements(state, pageId, withAst = true) {
 
   const page = getPageById(state, id);
   const elements = get(page, 'elements');
+
   if (!elements) return [];
-  if (!withAst) return elements;
+
+  // explicitely strip the ast, basically a fix for corrupted workpads
+  // due to https://github.com/elastic/kibana-canvas/issues/260
+  if (!withAst) return elements.map(el => omit(el, ['ast']));
 
   return elements.map(appendAst);
 }