diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsFilters.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsFilters.test.tsx
index 23ae3ab83df..1117d59e669 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsFilters.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsFilters.test.tsx
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ function renderFilters(filters: Record<string, string> = {}) {
   return { set };
 }
 
-function StatefulFilters() {
-  const [filters, setFilters] = useState<Record<string, string | undefined>>({});
+function StatefulFilters({ initialFilters = {} }: { initialFilters?: Record<string, string | undefined> }) {
+  const [filters, setFilters] = useState<Record<string, string | undefined>>(initialFilters);
   return (
     <RequestLogsFilters
       get={(id: string) => filters[id]}
@@ -213,6 +213,22 @@ describe("RequestLogsFilters", () => {
     expect(set).toHaveBeenCalledWith(LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS, "noisy");
   });
 
+  it("keeps a restored is not operator when clearing the alias to choose another", async () => {
+    vi.mocked(useInfiniteKeyAliases).mockReturnValue({
+      ...emptyInfiniteQuery,
+      data: { pages: [{ aliases: ["noisy", "quiet"] }], pageParams: [1] },
+    } as unknown as ReturnType<typeof useInfiniteKeyAliases>);
+    const user = userEvent.setup();
+    renderWithProviders(<StatefulFilters initialFilters={{ [LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS]: "noisy" }} />);
+
+    await user.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Clear", hidden: true }));
+
+    expect(screen.getByRole("combobox", { name: "Key Alias operator" })).toHaveTextContent("is not");
+    await chooseSelectOption(user, screen.getByPlaceholderText("Search a key alias"), "quiet");
+    expect(screen.getByRole("combobox", { name: "Key Alias operator" })).toHaveTextContent("is not");
+    expect(screen.getByPlaceholderText("Search a key alias")).toHaveValue("quiet");
+  });
+
   it("does not leak the team scope into the Model lookup", async () => {
     renderFilters({ [LOG_FILTER_IDS.TEAM_ID]: "team-42" });
 
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsFilters.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsFilters.tsx
index 5822a8d0b5f..9b970b6277b 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsFilters.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsFilters.tsx
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ function KeyAliasFilterField({
   teamId: string;
 }) {
   const [search, setSearch] = useState("");
-  const [operator, setOperator] = useState<KeyAliasOperator>("is");
+  const [operator, setOperator] = useState<KeyAliasOperator>(excludeValue !== "" ? "is not" : "is");
   let activeOperator: KeyAliasOperator = operator;
   if (excludeValue !== "") {
     activeOperator = "is not";
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsPanel.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsPanel.test.tsx
index 6c97bf91b26..cf5c780f943 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsPanel.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsPanel.test.tsx
@@ -566,6 +566,21 @@ describe("RequestLogsPanel", () => {
       await waitFor(() => expect(lastCall()?.params?.exclude_key_alias).toBeUndefined());
     });
 
+    it.each([" noisy ", "   "])(
+      "preserves the exact excluded alias %j when reapplying bookmarked filters",
+      async (alias) => {
+        const user = userEvent.setup();
+        renderPanel(new URLSearchParams({ exclude_key_alias: alias }).toString());
+
+        await waitFor(() => expect(lastCall()?.params?.exclude_key_alias).toBe(alias));
+        await user.click(screen.getByTestId("datatable-filters-trigger"));
+        await user.click(screen.getByTestId("filter-drawer-apply"));
+
+        await waitFor(() => expect(urlParams().get("exclude_key_alias")).toBe(alias));
+        expect(lastCall()?.params?.exclude_key_alias).toBe(alias);
+      },
+    );
+
     it("treats conflicting Key Alias URL parameters as one mutually exclusive filter", async () => {
       renderPanel("key_alias=quiet&exclude_key_alias=noisy");
 
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsPanel.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsPanel.tsx
index 70988223027..7f79b6f601f 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsPanel.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/RequestLogsPanel.tsx
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import type { LogEntry } from "../types";
 import {
   DEFAULT_LOGS_SORTING,
   formatLogsWindow,
+  getExactFilterValue,
   getFilterValue,
   getLogsWindowEndBound,
   LOG_FILTER_IDS,
@@ -224,7 +225,7 @@ export default function RequestLogsPanel({ accessToken, token, userRole, userID,
     (updaterOrValue) => {
       const next = typeof updaterOrValue === "function" ? updaterOrValue(columnFiltersRef.current) : updaterOrValue;
       const nextKeyAlias = getFilterValue(next, LOG_FILTER_IDS.KEY_ALIAS);
-      const nextExcludeKeyAlias = getFilterValue(next, LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS);
+      const nextExcludeKeyAlias = getExactFilterValue(next, LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS);
       const normalizedNext = next.filter(
         (filter) => filter.id !== LOG_FILTER_IDS.KEY_ALIAS && filter.id !== LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS,
       );
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/useLogFilterLogic.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/useLogFilterLogic.test.tsx
index b79a8b2904e..6fe9c9db193 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/useLogFilterLogic.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/useLogFilterLogic.test.tsx
@@ -92,7 +92,9 @@ describe("useLogFilterLogic", () => {
       { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.MODEL_ID, value: "model-uuid-1", param: "model_id" },
       { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.PUBLIC_MODEL_OR_SEARCH_TOOL, value: "gpt-4o", param: "model" },
       { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.KEY_ALIAS, value: "alias-1", param: "key_alias" },
-      { id: "exclude_key_alias", value: "alias-1", param: "exclude_key_alias" },
+      { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS, value: "alias-1", param: "exclude_key_alias" },
+      { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS, value: " alias-1 ", param: "exclude_key_alias" },
+      { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS, value: "   ", param: "exclude_key_alias" },
       { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.ERROR_CODE, value: "429", param: "error_code" },
       { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.ERROR_MESSAGE, value: "rate limited", param: "error_message" },
       { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.USER_ID, value: "user-9", param: "user_id" },
@@ -111,6 +113,7 @@ describe("useLogFilterLogic", () => {
         columnFilters: [
           { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.TEAM_ID, value: "   " },
           { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.KEY_HASH, value: "" },
+          { id: LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS, value: "" },
         ],
       });
 
@@ -118,6 +121,7 @@ describe("useLogFilterLogic", () => {
       const params = lastCallParams()?.params;
       expect(params?.team_id).toBeUndefined();
       expect(params?.api_key).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(params?.exclude_key_alias).toBeUndefined();
       expect(params?.error_code).toBeUndefined();
     });
   });
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/useLogFilterLogic.ts b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/useLogFilterLogic.ts
index 19016d461a4..fa2d9c432c2 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/useLogFilterLogic.ts
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/logs/request/useLogFilterLogic.ts
@@ -98,10 +98,13 @@ export const DEFAULT_LOGS_SORTING: SortingState = [{ id: "startTime", desc: true
 
 const isSortField = (id: string): id is LogsSortField => Object.hasOwn(LOGS_SORT_FIELD_MAP, id);
 
-export const getFilterValue = (columnFilters: ColumnFiltersState, columnId: string): string | undefined => {
+export const getExactFilterValue = (columnFilters: ColumnFiltersState, columnId: string): string | undefined => {
   const entry = columnFilters.find((filter) => filter.id === columnId);
-  if (typeof entry?.value !== "string") return undefined;
-  const trimmed = entry.value.trim();
+  return typeof entry?.value === "string" && entry.value !== "" ? entry.value : undefined;
+};
+
+export const getFilterValue = (columnFilters: ColumnFiltersState, columnId: string): string | undefined => {
+  const trimmed = getExactFilterValue(columnFilters, columnId)?.trim();
   return trimmed === "" ? undefined : trimmed;
 };
 
@@ -194,7 +197,7 @@ export function useLogFilterLogic({
           model_id: getFilterValue(columnFilters, LOG_FILTER_IDS.MODEL_ID),
           model: getFilterValue(columnFilters, LOG_FILTER_IDS.PUBLIC_MODEL_OR_SEARCH_TOOL),
           key_alias: getFilterValue(columnFilters, LOG_FILTER_IDS.KEY_ALIAS),
-          exclude_key_alias: getFilterValue(columnFilters, LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS),
+          exclude_key_alias: getExactFilterValue(columnFilters, LOG_FILTER_IDS.EXCLUDE_KEY_ALIAS),
           error_code: getFilterValue(columnFilters, LOG_FILTER_IDS.ERROR_CODE),
           error_message: getFilterValue(columnFilters, LOG_FILTER_IDS.ERROR_MESSAGE),
           sort_by: sortBy,