diff --git a/csw-server/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/SearchController.java b/csw-server/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/SearchController.java
index 99ac7c50b3..be4a62fb5f 100644
--- a/csw-server/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/SearchController.java
+++ b/csw-server/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/SearchController.java
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ public Element search(ServiceContext context, int startPos, int maxRecords,
 
         try {
             String filterQueryString = esFilterBuilder.build(context, "metadata", false, node);
-            String jsonQuery = String.format(elasticSearchQuery, filterQueryString);
+            String jsonQuery = StringUtils.replace(elasticSearchQuery, "{@}", filterQueryString);
 
             ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
             esJsonQuery = objectMapper.readTree(jsonQuery);
diff --git a/csw-server/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/es/CswFilter2Es.java b/csw-server/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/es/CswFilter2Es.java
index a760a23e7d..754ad2eee9 100644
--- a/csw-server/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/es/CswFilter2Es.java
+++ b/csw-server/src/main/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/es/CswFilter2Es.java
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public class CswFilter2Es extends AbstractFilterVisitor {
         "            \"must\": [\n" +
         "             %s\n" +
         "            ]\n" +
-        "          ,\"filter\":{\"query_string\":{\"query\":\"%s\"}}}"; //, "minimum_should_match" : 1
+        "          ,\"filter\":{\"query_string\":{\"query\":\"{@}\"}}}"; //, "minimum_should_match" : 1
     private static final String TEMPLATE_OR = " {\"bool\": {\n" +
         "            \"should\": [\n" +
         "             %s\n" +
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public class CswFilter2Es extends AbstractFilterVisitor {
         "            \"should\": [\n" +
         "             %s\n" +
         "            ]\n" +
-        "          ,\"filter\":{\"query_string\":{\"query\":\"%s\"}}, \"minimum_should_match\" : 1}";
+        "          ,\"filter\":{\"query_string\":{\"query\":\"{@}\"}}, \"minimum_should_match\" : 1}";
     private static final String TEMPLATE_MATCH = "{\"query_string\": {\n" +
         "        \"fields\": [\"%s\"],\n" +
         "        \"query\": \"%s\"\n" +
diff --git a/csw-server/src/test/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/es/CswFilter2EsTest.java b/csw-server/src/test/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/es/CswFilter2EsTest.java
index a67a5031a5..b89996e6cc 100644
--- a/csw-server/src/test/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/es/CswFilter2EsTest.java
+++ b/csw-server/src/test/java/org/fao/geonet/kernel/csw/services/getrecords/es/CswFilter2EsTest.java
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ private static ObjectNode queryStringPart(String field, String queryString) {
             fieldValues.add(field);
             query.set("fields", fieldValues);
         }
-        query.put("query", queryString == null ? "%s" : queryString);
+        query.put("query", queryString == null ? "{@}" : queryString);
 
         queryStringNode.set("query_string", query);