diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index d71e4f4b..2decec01 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@
 
 - Fixed a bug that triggers a DataTables warning dialog box in the browser (thanks, @zross, https://github.com/WHOequity/who-heat/issues/229 and https://github.com/rstudio/shiny/issues/561)
 
+- Factors will a huge number of levels may slow down the rendering of the table significantly (thanks, @vnijs, #169).
+
 # CHANGES IN DT VERSION 0.1
 
 - Initial CRAN release.
diff --git a/R/datatables.R b/R/datatables.R
index 513656ce..384d8619 100644
--- a/R/datatables.R
+++ b/R/datatables.R
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ filterRow = function(
       if (t != 'disabled') tags$div(
         tags$select(
           multiple = 'multiple', style = 'width: 100%;',
-          lapply(d, function(x) tags$option(value = x, x))
+          `data-options` = jsonlite::toJSON(as.character(d))
         ),
         style = 'width: 100%; display: none;'
       )
diff --git a/inst/htmlwidgets/datatables.js b/inst/htmlwidgets/datatables.js
index e2e96471..76c831b9 100644
--- a/inst/htmlwidgets/datatables.js
+++ b/inst/htmlwidgets/datatables.js
@@ -224,7 +224,11 @@ HTMLWidgets.widget({
               if ($input.val() === '') filter[0].selectize.setValue([]);
             }
           });
-          filter = $x.children('select').selectize({
+          var $input2 = $x.children('select');
+          filter = $input2.selectize({
+            options: $input2.data('options').map(function(v, i) {
+              return ({text: v, value: v});
+            }),
             plugins: ['remove_button'],
             hideSelected: true,
             onChange: function(value) {