diff --git a/static/js/feature_flags.js b/static/js/feature_flags.js
index a1c1336691..b607ebfbf6 100644
--- a/static/js/feature_flags.js
+++ b/static/js/feature_flags.js
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ exports.propagate_topic_edits = true;
 exports.summarize_read_while_narrowed = false;
 exports.clicking_notification_causes_narrow = true;
 exports.use_socket = true;
+exports.remove_filter_tuples_safety_net = page_params.staging;
 
 // Ready for deprecation.
 exports.collapsible = false;
diff --git a/static/js/filter.js b/static/js/filter.js
index 483944d32c..6d2be04731 100644
--- a/static/js/filter.js
+++ b/static/js/filter.js
@@ -3,9 +3,14 @@ var Filter = (function () {
 function filter_term(opts) {
     // For legacy reasons we must represent filter_terms as tuples
     // until we phase out all the code that assumes tuples.
+    // We are very close to removing the tuple code everywhere; for
+    // now, we remove the safety net on staging only.
     var term = [];
-    term[0] = opts.operator;
-    term[1] = opts.operand;
+
+    if (!feature_flags.remove_filter_tuples_safety_net) {
+        term[0] = opts.operator;
+        term[1] = opts.operand;
+    }
 
     // This is the new style we are phasing in.  (Yes, the same
     // object can be treated like either a tuple or a struct.)
diff --git a/zerver/tests/frontend/node/filter.js b/zerver/tests/frontend/node/filter.js
index d717e386ab..9360b9178d 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/frontend/node/filter.js
+++ b/zerver/tests/frontend/node/filter.js
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ set_global('page_params', {
     email: 'hamlet@zulip.com',
     domain: 'zulip.com'
 });
+set_global('feature_flags', {
+    remove_filter_tuples_safety_net: false
+});
 
 var Filter = require('js/filter.js');
 var _ = global._;
diff --git a/zerver/tests/frontend/node/narrow.js b/zerver/tests/frontend/node/narrow.js
index f036afa1d2..c12bfb96f5 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/frontend/node/narrow.js
+++ b/zerver/tests/frontend/node/narrow.js
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ var narrow = require('js/narrow.js');
 var Filter = global.Filter;
 var stream_data = global.stream_data;
 
+set_global('feature_flags', {
+    remove_filter_tuples_safety_net: false
+});
+
 function set_filter(operators) {
     narrow._set_current_filter(new Filter(operators));
 }
diff --git a/zerver/tests/frontend/node/search_suggestion.js b/zerver/tests/frontend/node/search_suggestion.js
index 1b9684a924..94bb3156c4 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/frontend/node/search_suggestion.js
+++ b/zerver/tests/frontend/node/search_suggestion.js
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ set_global('stream_data', {
 
 set_global('narrow', {});
 
+set_global('feature_flags', {
+    remove_filter_tuples_safety_net: false
+});
+
 (function test_basic_get_suggestions() {
     var query = 'fred';