diff --git a/src/js/core/services/rowSearcher.js b/src/js/core/services/rowSearcher.js
index 17fd11d165..d0a9f2d23b 100644
--- a/src/js/core/services/rowSearcher.js
+++ b/src/js/core/services/rowSearcher.js
@@ -77,6 +77,13 @@ module.service('rowSearcher', ['gridUtil', 'uiGridConstants', function (gridUtil
     }
 
     var term = rowSearcher.getTerm(filter);
+
+    // A searchOption value could be an object so it is better to user angular.equals instead of a regex.
+    if (angular.isObject(term) && term.value && !angular.isDefined(filter.condition)) {
+      return function(searchTerm, cellValue) {
+        return angular.equals(searchTerm, cellValue);
+      };
+    }
     
     if (/\*/.test(term)) {
       var regexpFlags = '';
@@ -178,7 +185,8 @@ module.service('rowSearcher', ['gridUtil', 'uiGridConstants', function (gridUtil
     var conditionType = typeof(filter.condition);
 
     // Term to search for.
-    var term = filter.term;
+    // Exctract the term.value for selectOptions since ng-options track by returns the entire object.
+    var term = angular.isObject(filter.term) && filter.term.value ? filter.term.value : filter.term;
 
     // Get the column value for this row
     var value = grid.getCellValue(row, column);
diff --git a/src/templates/ui-grid/ui-grid-filter.html b/src/templates/ui-grid/ui-grid-filter.html
index 467577134f..6c58b7975d 100644
--- a/src/templates/ui-grid/ui-grid-filter.html
+++ b/src/templates/ui-grid/ui-grid-filter.html
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   </div>
   
   <div ng-if="colFilter.type === 'select'">
-    <select class="ui-grid-filter-select" ng-model="colFilter.term" ng-attr-placeholder="{{colFilter.placeholder || ''}}" ng-options="option.value as option.label for option in colFilter.selectOptions">
+    <select class="ui-grid-filter-select" ng-model="colFilter.term" ng-attr-placeholder="{{colFilter.placeholder || ''}}" ng-options="option.label for option in colFilter.selectOptions track by option.label">
       <option value=""></option>
     </select>