diff --git a/instana/filterexpression/filter-expression-parser.go b/instana/filterexpression/filter-expression-parser.go
index c51c197..48914e7 100644
--- a/instana/filterexpression/filter-expression-parser.go
+++ b/instana/filterexpression/filter-expression-parser.go
@@ -218,6 +218,16 @@ var (
 	)
 )
 
+//Normalize parses the input and returns the normalized representation of the input string
+func Normalize(input string) (string, error) {
+	parser := NewParser()
+	expr, err := parser.Parse(input)
+	if err != nil {
+		return input, err
+	}
+	return expr.Render(), nil
+}
+
 //NewParser creates a new instance of a Parser
 func NewParser() Parser {
 	return new(parserImpl)
diff --git a/instana/filterexpression/filter-expression-parser_test.go b/instana/filterexpression/filter-expression-parser_test.go
index dfced97..d63bbf2 100644
--- a/instana/filterexpression/filter-expression-parser_test.go
+++ b/instana/filterexpression/filter-expression-parser_test.go
@@ -467,3 +467,20 @@ func TestShouldGetEntityOriginByInstanaAPIEntity(t *testing.T) {
 func TestShouldReturnEntityOriginDestinationAsFallbackValueWhenMatcherExpressionEntityIsNotValid(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, EntityOriginDestination, SupportedEntityOrigins.ForInstanaAPIEntity(restapi.MatcherExpressionEntity("invalid")))
 }
+
+func TestShouldNormalizeExpression(t *testing.T) {
+	input := "entity.name    NOT_EMPTY"
+	expectedResult := "entity.name@dest NOT_EMPTY"
+
+	result, err := Normalize(input)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, expectedResult, result)
+}
+
+func TestShouldFailToNormalizeExpressionWehnExpressionIsNotValied(t *testing.T) {
+	input := "entity.name    bla bla bla"
+
+	result, err := Normalize(input)
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, input, result)
+}
diff --git a/instana/resource-application-config.go b/instana/resource-application-config.go
index 3dd5fa1..d39987b 100644
--- a/instana/resource-application-config.go
+++ b/instana/resource-application-config.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package instana
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"log"
 
 	"github.com/gessnerfl/terraform-provider-instana/instana/filterexpression"
@@ -65,6 +66,28 @@ var (
 		Type:        schema.TypeString,
 		Required:    true,
 		Description: "The match specification of the application config",
+		DiffSuppressFunc: func(k, old, new string, d *schema.ResourceData) bool {
+			normalized, err := filterexpression.Normalize(new)
+			if err == nil {
+				return normalized == old
+			}
+			return old == new
+		},
+		StateFunc: func(val interface{}) string {
+			normalized, err := filterexpression.Normalize(val.(string))
+			if err == nil {
+				return normalized
+			}
+			return val.(string)
+		},
+		ValidateFunc: func(val interface{}, key string) (warns []string, errs []error) {
+			v := val.(string)
+			if _, err := filterexpression.NewParser().Parse(v); err != nil {
+				errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("%q is not a valid match expression; %s", key, err))
+			}
+
+			return
+		},
 	}
 	//ApplicationConfigNormalizedMatchSpecification schema for the application config field normalized_match_specification
 	ApplicationConfigNormalizedMatchSpecification = &schema.Schema{
@@ -136,6 +159,7 @@ func (r *applicationConfigResource) UpdateState(d *schema.ResourceData, obj rest
 	d.Set(ApplicationConfigFieldScope, string(applicationConfig.Scope))
 	d.Set(ApplicationConfigFieldBoundaryScope, string(applicationConfig.BoundaryScope))
 	d.Set(ApplicationConfigFieldNormalizedMatchSpecification, normalizedExpressionString)
+	d.Set(ApplicationConfigFieldMatchSpecification, normalizedExpressionString)
 
 	d.SetId(applicationConfig.ID)
 	return nil
diff --git a/instana/resource-application-config_test.go b/instana/resource-application-config_test.go
index 1382137..9946ddd 100644
--- a/instana/resource-application-config_test.go
+++ b/instana/resource-application-config_test.go
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func createApplicationConfigResourceTestStep(httpPort int, iteration int) resour
 			resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(testApplicationConfigDefinition, ApplicationConfigFieldFullLabel, formatResourceFullName(iteration)),
 			resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(testApplicationConfigDefinition, ApplicationConfigFieldScope, string(restapi.ApplicationConfigScopeIncludeAllDownstream)),
 			resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(testApplicationConfigDefinition, ApplicationConfigFieldBoundaryScope, string(restapi.BoundaryScopeAll)),
-			resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(testApplicationConfigDefinition, ApplicationConfigFieldMatchSpecification, defaultMatchSpecification),
+			resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(testApplicationConfigDefinition, ApplicationConfigFieldMatchSpecification, defaultMatchSpecificationNormalized),
 			resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(testApplicationConfigDefinition, ApplicationConfigFieldNormalizedMatchSpecification, defaultMatchSpecificationNormalized),
 		),
 	}