diff --git a/packages/twenty-shared/src/utils/filter/utils/__tests__/arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.test.ts b/packages/twenty-shared/src/utils/filter/utils/__tests__/arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.test.ts
index bb646b3649c..8435fb2d103 100644
--- a/packages/twenty-shared/src/utils/filter/utils/__tests__/arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.test.ts
+++ b/packages/twenty-shared/src/utils/filter/utils/__tests__/arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.test.ts
@@ -61,6 +61,29 @@ describe('arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('Legacy plain string handling', () => {
+    it('should wrap plain string values in an array', () => {
+      const plainStrings = ['Privat', 'Work', 'some-option-value'];
+
+      plainStrings.forEach((str) => {
+        const result = arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.safeParse(str);
+        expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+        if (result.success) {
+          expect(result.data).toEqual([str]);
+        }
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('should handle plain string with special characters', () => {
+      const result =
+        arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.safeParse('Privat & Geschäftlich');
+      expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+      if (result.success) {
+        expect(result.data).toEqual(['Privat & Geschäftlich']);
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('Edge cases', () => {
     it('should handle whitespace in variable syntax', () => {
       const result =
diff --git a/packages/twenty-shared/src/utils/filter/utils/validation-schemas/arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.ts b/packages/twenty-shared/src/utils/filter/utils/validation-schemas/arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.ts
index 17690b44766..56c2515cf59 100644
--- a/packages/twenty-shared/src/utils/filter/utils/validation-schemas/arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.ts
+++ b/packages/twenty-shared/src/utils/filter/utils/validation-schemas/arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@ export const arrayOfStringsOrVariablesSchema = z
     if (isValidVariable(val) as boolean) {
       return [val];
     }
-    return JSON.parse(val);
+    try {
+      return JSON.parse(val);
+    } catch {
+      return [val];
+    }
   })
   .refine(
     (parsed) =>