diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/util/url_state.test.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/util/url_state.test.ts
index 91bbef2dba6c2..0813f2e3da97f 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/util/url_state.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/util/url_state.test.ts
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ describe('useUrlState', () => {
 
     expect(mockHistoryPush).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
       search:
-        '_a=%28mlExplorerFilter%3A%28%29%2CmlExplorerSwimlane%3A%28viewByFieldName%3Aaction%29%2Cquery%3A%28%29%29&_g=%28ml%3A%28jobIds%3A%21%28dec-2%29%29%2CrefreshInterval%3A%28display%3AOff%2Cpause%3A%21f%2Cvalue%3A0%29%2Ctime%3A%28from%3A%272019-01-01T00%3A03%3A40.000Z%27%2Cmode%3Aabsolute%2Cto%3A%272019-08-30T11%3A55%3A07.000Z%27%29%29&savedSearchId=%27571aaf70-4c88-11e8-b3d7-01146121b73d%27',
+        '_a=%28mlExplorerFilter%3A%28%29%2CmlExplorerSwimlane%3A%28viewByFieldName%3Aaction%29%2Cquery%3A%28%29%29&_g=%28ml%3A%28jobIds%3A%21%28dec-2%29%29%2CrefreshInterval%3A%28display%3AOff%2Cpause%3A%21f%2Cvalue%3A0%29%2Ctime%3A%28from%3A%272019-01-01T00%3A03%3A40.000Z%27%2Cmode%3Aabsolute%2Cto%3A%272019-08-30T11%3A55%3A07.000Z%27%29%29&savedSearchId=571aaf70-4c88-11e8-b3d7-01146121b73d',
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/util/url_state.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/util/url_state.ts
index 546944b1a33bf..e7d5a94e2694f 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/util/url_state.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/util/url_state.ts
@@ -18,14 +18,26 @@ import { getNestedProperty } from './object_utils';
 export type SetUrlState = (attribute: string | Dictionary<any>, value?: any) => void;
 export type UrlState = [Dictionary<any>, SetUrlState];
 
-const decodedParams = new Set(['_a', '_g']);
+/**
+ * Set of URL query parameters that require the rison serialization.
+ */
+const risonSerializedParams = new Set(['_a', '_g']);
+
+/**
+ * Checks if the URL query parameter requires rison serialization.
+ * @param queryParam
+ */
+function isRisonSerializationRequired(queryParam: string): boolean {
+  return risonSerializedParams.has(queryParam);
+}
+
 export function getUrlState(search: string): Dictionary<any> {
   const urlState: Dictionary<any> = {};
   const parsedQueryString = queryString.parse(search);
 
   try {
     Object.keys(parsedQueryString).forEach(a => {
-      if (decodedParams.has(a)) {
+      if (isRisonSerializationRequired(a)) {
         urlState[a] = decode(parsedQueryString[a]) as Dictionary<any>;
       } else {
         urlState[a] = parsedQueryString[a];
@@ -75,7 +87,11 @@ export const useUrlState = (accessor: string): UrlState => {
         const oldLocationSearch = queryString.stringify(parsedQueryString, { encode: false });
 
         Object.keys(urlState).forEach(a => {
-          parsedQueryString[a] = encode(urlState[a]);
+          if (isRisonSerializationRequired(a)) {
+            parsedQueryString[a] = encode(urlState[a]);
+          } else {
+            parsedQueryString[a] = urlState[a];
+          }
         });
         const newLocationSearch = queryString.stringify(parsedQueryString, { encode: false });