diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/filter_utils.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/filter_utils.ts
index be36807f0d02b..506007efe1ede 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/filter_utils.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/filter_utils.ts
@@ -202,16 +202,16 @@ export const hasFilterKeyError = (
     ) {
       return `This key '${key}' does NOT match the filter proposition SavedObjectType.attributes.key`;
     }
-    if (
-      (keySplit.length === 2 && !fieldDefined(indexMapping, keySplit[1])) ||
-      (keySplit.length > 2 &&
-        !fieldDefined(
-          indexMapping,
-          `${keySplit[0]}.${keySplit.slice(2, keySplit.length).join('.')}`
-        ))
-    ) {
-      return `This key '${key}' does NOT exist in ${types.join()} saved object index patterns`;
-    }
+    // if (
+    //   (keySplit.length === 2 && !fieldDefined(indexMapping, keySplit[1])) ||
+    //   (keySplit.length > 2 &&
+    //     !fieldDefined(
+    //       indexMapping,
+    //       `${keySplit[0]}.${keySplit.slice(2, keySplit.length).join('.')}`
+    //     ))
+    // ) {
+    //   return `This key '${key}' does NOT exist in ${types.join()} saved object index patterns`;
+    // }
   }
   return null;
 };
diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/search_dsl/sorting_params.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/search_dsl/sorting_params.ts
index a56cf6462dbe7..e765b00e2bfdb 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/search_dsl/sorting_params.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/search_dsl/sorting_params.ts
@@ -67,23 +67,23 @@ export function getSortingParams(
   }
 
   const [typeField] = types;
-  let key = `${typeField}.${sortField}`;
-  let field = getProperty(mappings, key);
-  if (!field) {
-    // type field does not exist, try checking the root properties
-    key = sortField;
-    field = getProperty(mappings, sortField);
-    if (!field) {
-      throw Boom.badRequest(`Unknown sort field ${sortField}`);
-    }
-  }
+  const key = `${typeField}.${sortField}`;
+  // let field = getProperty(mappings, key);
+  // if (!field) {
+  //   // type field does not exist, try checking the root properties
+  //   key = sortField;
+  //   field = getProperty(mappings, sortField);
+  //   if (!field) {
+  //     throw Boom.badRequest(`Unknown sort field ${sortField}`);
+  //   }
+  // }
 
   return {
     sort: [
       {
         [key]: {
           order: sortOrder,
-          unmapped_type: field.type,
+          // unmapped_type: field.type,
         },
       },
     ],
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/alerts/server/saved_objects/mappings.json b/x-pack/plugins/alerts/server/saved_objects/mappings.json
index f0c5c28ecaeaf..136dc530aa119 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/alerts/server/saved_objects/mappings.json
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/alerts/server/saved_objects/mappings.json
@@ -47,8 +47,7 @@
         }
       },
       "params": {
-        "enabled": false,
-        "type": "object"
+        "type": "flattened"
       },
       "scheduledTaskId": {
         "type": "keyword"
diff --git a/x-pack/test/alerting_api_integration/spaces_only/tests/alerting/find.ts b/x-pack/test/alerting_api_integration/spaces_only/tests/alerting/find.ts
index ffe25cfe684ac..641d013a0586e 100644
--- a/x-pack/test/alerting_api_integration/spaces_only/tests/alerting/find.ts
+++ b/x-pack/test/alerting_api_integration/spaces_only/tests/alerting/find.ts
@@ -84,5 +84,51 @@ export default function createFindTests({ getService }: FtrProviderContext) {
           data: [],
         });
     });
+
+    it('should be able to sort on alert param values', async () => {
+      await Promise.all([
+        createAlert({ params: { strValue: 'b' } }),
+        createAlert({ params: { strValue: 'c' } }),
+        createAlert({ params: { strValue: 'a' } }),
+      ]);
+
+      const response = await supertest.get(
+        `${getUrlPrefix(Spaces.space1.id)}/api/alerts/_find?sort_field=params.strValue`
+      );
+
+      expect(response.status).to.eql(200);
+      expect(response.body.total).to.equal(3);
+      expect(response.body.data[0].params.strValue).to.eql('a');
+      expect(response.body.data[1].params.strValue).to.eql('b');
+      expect(response.body.data[2].params.strValue).to.eql('c');
+    });
+
+    it('should be able to filter on alert param values', async () => {
+      await Promise.all([
+        createAlert({ params: { strValue: 'my a' } }),
+        createAlert({ params: { strValue: 'my b' } }),
+        createAlert({ params: { strValue: 'my c' } }),
+      ]);
+
+      const response = await supertest.get(
+        `${getUrlPrefix(
+          Spaces.space1.id
+        )}/api/alerts/_find?filter=alert.attributes.params.strValue:"my b"`
+      );
+
+      expect(response.status).to.eql(200);
+      expect(response.body.total).to.equal(1);
+      expect(response.body.data[0].params.strValue).to.eql('my b');
+    });
+
+    async function createAlert(overwrites = {}) {
+      const { body: createdAlert } = await supertest
+        .post(`${getUrlPrefix(Spaces.space1.id)}/api/alerts/alert`)
+        .set('kbn-xsrf', 'foo')
+        .send(getTestAlertData(overwrites))
+        .expect(200);
+      objectRemover.add(Spaces.space1.id, createdAlert.id, 'alert', 'alerts');
+      return createdAlert;
+    }
   });
 }