diff --git a/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/dashboard/util/getFilterConfigsFromFormdata_spec.js b/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/dashboard/util/getFilterConfigsFromFormdata_spec.js
index 636727b0d92..8dae4d3b55b 100644
--- a/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/dashboard/util/getFilterConfigsFromFormdata_spec.js
+++ b/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/dashboard/util/getFilterConfigsFromFormdata_spec.js
@@ -62,7 +62,26 @@ describe('getFilterConfigsFromFormdata', () => {
       show_sqla_time_column: true,
     });
     expect(result.columns).toMatchObject({
-      state: 'CA',
+      state: ['CA'],
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should read multi values from form_data', () => {
+    const result = getFilterConfigsFromFormdata({
+      ...testFormdata,
+      filter_configs: [
+        {
+          asc: true,
+          clearable: true,
+          column: 'state',
+          defaultValue: 'CA;NY',
+          key: 'fvwncPjUf',
+          multiple: true,
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+    expect(result.columns).toMatchObject({
+      state: ['CA', 'NY'],
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/superset/assets/src/dashboard/util/getFilterConfigsFromFormdata.js b/superset/assets/src/dashboard/util/getFilterConfigsFromFormdata.js
index 87efbc8068e..fb7102cc09b 100644
--- a/superset/assets/src/dashboard/util/getFilterConfigsFromFormdata.js
+++ b/superset/assets/src/dashboard/util/getFilterConfigsFromFormdata.js
@@ -31,9 +31,15 @@ export default function getFilterConfigsFromFormdata(form_data = {}) {
   } = form_data;
   let configs = filter_configs.reduce(
     ({ columns, labels }, config) => {
+      let defaultValues = config.defaultValue;
+      // defaultValue could be ; separated values,
+      // could be null or ''
+      if (config.defaultValue) {
+        defaultValues = config.defaultValue.split(';');
+      }
       const updatedColumns = {
         ...columns,
-        [config.column]: config.vals || config.defaultValue,
+        [config.column]: config.vals || defaultValues,
       };
       const updatedLabels = {
         ...labels,