diff --git a/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/gui/api/util/WebComponentUtil.java b/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/gui/api/util/WebComponentUtil.java
index 8ea6e7b5397..376154ebb47 100644
--- a/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/gui/api/util/WebComponentUtil.java
+++ b/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/gui/api/util/WebComponentUtil.java
@@ -1375,6 +1375,20 @@ public static <C extends Containerable> String getDisplayName(PrismContainerValu
         return StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(displayName);
     }
 
+    public static String getItemDefinitionDisplayNameOrName(ItemDefinition def, Component component) {
+        if (def == null) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        if (def.getDisplayName() != null) {
+            StringResourceModel nameModel = PageBase.createStringResourceStatic(component, def.getDisplayName());
+            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(nameModel.getString()) && !def.getDisplayName().equals(nameModel.getString())) {
+                return nameModel.getString();
+            }
+        }
+        return def.getItemName().getLocalPart();
+    }
+
     private static String getAcquisitionDescription(ProvenanceAcquisitionType acquisitionType) {
         if (acquisitionType == null) {
             return null;
diff --git a/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/web/component/search/Property.java b/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/web/component/search/Property.java
index b2aef7d3485..25640006d5a 100644
--- a/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/web/component/search/Property.java
+++ b/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/web/component/search/Property.java
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 
 import java.io.Serializable;
 
+import com.evolveum.midpoint.gui.api.util.WebComponentUtil;
+
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.Validate;
 import org.apache.wicket.model.StringResourceModel;
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ public ItemDefinition getDefinition() {
     }
 
     public String getName() {
-        return getItemDefinitionName(definition);
+        return WebComponentUtil.getItemDefinitionDisplayNameOrName(definition, null);
     }
 
     public boolean isSelected() {
@@ -69,8 +71,8 @@ public int hashCode() {
 
     @Override
     public int compareTo(Property o) {
-        String n1 = getItemDefinitionName(definition);
-        String n2 = getItemDefinitionName(o.definition);
+        String n1 = WebComponentUtil.getItemDefinitionDisplayNameOrName(definition, null);
+        String n2 = WebComponentUtil.getItemDefinitionDisplayNameOrName(o.definition, null);
 
         if (n1 == null || n2 == null) {
             return 0;
@@ -79,23 +81,6 @@ public int compareTo(Property o) {
         return String.CASE_INSENSITIVE_ORDER.compare(n1, n2);
     }
 
-    private String getItemDefinitionName(ItemDefinition def) {
-        if (def == null) {
-            return null;
-        }
-
-        if (def.getDisplayName() != null) {
-            StringResourceModel nameModel = PageBase.createStringResourceStatic(null, def.getDisplayName());
-            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(nameModel.getString())) {
-                return nameModel.getString();
-            }
-        }
-        String name = def.getDisplayName();        // TODO this is always null here, isn't it?
-        if (StringUtils.isEmpty(name)) {
-            name = def.getItemName().getLocalPart();
-        }
-        return name;
-    }
 
     @Override
     public String toString() {
diff --git a/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/web/component/search/filter/ValueSearchFilterItem.java b/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/web/component/search/filter/ValueSearchFilterItem.java
index 975d8505bc1..e4c5f1ede6f 100644
--- a/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/web/component/search/filter/ValueSearchFilterItem.java
+++ b/gui/admin-gui/src/main/java/com/evolveum/midpoint/web/component/search/filter/ValueSearchFilterItem.java
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
 
+import com.evolveum.midpoint.gui.api.util.WebComponentUtil;
+
 import org.apache.commons.collections4.CollectionUtils;
 
 import com.evolveum.midpoint.prism.*;
@@ -117,16 +119,19 @@ public QName getMatchingRuleName() {
     public ValueSearchFilterItem(ValueFilter filter, boolean applyNegation) {
         this.filter = filter;
         this.applyNegation = applyNegation;
-        propertyName = filter.getElementName().toString();
         propertyPath = filter.getElementName();
         propertyDef = filter.getDefinition();
+        propertyName = WebComponentUtil.getItemDefinitionDisplayNameOrName(propertyDef, null);
         value = CollectionUtils.isNotEmpty(filter.getValues()) ? filter.getValues().get(0) : null;
+        if (propertyDef instanceof PrismReferenceDefinition && value == null) {
+            value = new ObjectReferenceType();
+        }
         this.expression = filter.getExpression();
         parseFilterName();
     }
 
     public ValueSearchFilterItem(Property property, boolean applyNegation) {
-        propertyName = property.getDefinition().getItemName().toString();
+        propertyName = property.getName();
         propertyPath = property.getDefinition().getItemName();
         propertyDef = property.getDefinition();
         this.applyNegation = applyNegation;
@@ -267,6 +272,8 @@ private void parseFilterName() {
         }
     }
 
+
+
     public List<FilterName> getAvailableFilterNameList() {
         if (propertyDef == null) {
             return Arrays.asList(FilterName.values());