diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/rule_types/transaction_duration_rule_type/index.stories.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/rule_types/transaction_duration_rule_type/index.stories.tsx
index e69199ac7281d..1c28235a6575d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/rule_types/transaction_duration_rule_type/index.stories.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/rule_types/transaction_duration_rule_type/index.stories.tsx
@@ -32,8 +32,28 @@ export default {
   ],
 };
 
-export const Example: Story = () => {
-  const [params, setParams] = useState<RuleParams>({
+export const CreatingInApmServiceOverview: Story<Args> = ({
+  ruleParams,
+  metadata,
+}) => {
+  const [params, setParams] = useState<RuleParams>(ruleParams);
+
+  function setRuleParams(property: string, value: any) {
+    setParams({ ...params, [property]: value });
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <TransactionDurationRuleType
+      ruleParams={params}
+      metadata={metadata}
+      setRuleParams={setRuleParams}
+      setRuleProperty={() => {}}
+    />
+  );
+};
+
+CreatingInApmServiceOverview.args = {
+  ruleParams: {
     aggregationType: AggregationType.Avg,
     environment: 'testEnvironment',
     serviceName: 'testServiceName',
@@ -42,7 +62,15 @@ export const Example: Story = () => {
     transactionName: 'GET /api/customer/:id',
     windowSize: 5,
     windowUnit: 'm',
-  });
+  },
+  metadata: undefined,
+};
+
+export const CreatingInStackManagement: Story<Args> = ({
+  ruleParams,
+  metadata,
+}) => {
+  const [params, setParams] = useState<RuleParams>(ruleParams);
 
   function setRuleParams(property: string, value: any) {
     setParams({ ...params, [property]: value });
@@ -51,8 +79,14 @@ export const Example: Story = () => {
   return (
     <TransactionDurationRuleType
       ruleParams={params}
+      metadata={metadata}
       setRuleParams={setRuleParams}
       setRuleProperty={() => {}}
     />
   );
 };
+
+CreatingInStackManagement.args = {
+  ruleParams: {},
+  metadata: undefined,
+};
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/rule_types/transaction_duration_rule_type/index.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/rule_types/transaction_duration_rule_type/index.tsx
index d5a62bdd8d956..febe1e3fdc6d2 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/rule_types/transaction_duration_rule_type/index.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/rule_types/transaction_duration_rule_type/index.tsx
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ import { PopoverExpression } from '../../ui_components/popover_expression';
 export interface RuleParams {
   aggregationType: AggregationType;
   environment: string;
-  serviceName: string;
   threshold: number;
-  transactionType: string;
-  transactionName: string;
+  transactionType?: string;
+  transactionName?: string;
+  serviceName?: string;
   windowSize: number;
   windowUnit: string;
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/utils/fields.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/utils/fields.tsx
index e2c1be9e2a362..78437f2ea027b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/utils/fields.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/public/components/alerting/utils/fields.tsx
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ export function ServiceField({
     >
       <SuggestionsSelect
         customOptions={
-          allowAll ? [{ label: allOptionText, value: '' }] : undefined
+          allowAll ? [{ label: allOptionText, value: undefined }] : undefined
         }
         customOptionText={i18n.translate(
           'xpack.apm.serviceNamesSelectCustomOptionText',
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export function TransactionNameField({
   onChange,
   serviceName,
 }: {
-  currentValue: string;
+  currentValue?: string;
   onChange: (value?: string) => void;
   serviceName?: string;
 }) {
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ export function TransactionNameField({
   return (
     <PopoverExpression value={currentValue || allOptionText} title={label}>
       <SuggestionsSelect
-        customOptions={[{ label: allOptionText, value: '' }]}
+        customOptions={[{ label: allOptionText, value: undefined }]}
         customOptionText={i18n.translate(
           'xpack.apm.alerting.transaction.name.custom.text',
           {
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ export function TransactionTypeField({
   return (
     <PopoverExpression value={currentValue || allOptionText} title={label}>
       <SuggestionsSelect
-        customOptions={[{ label: allOptionText, value: '' }]}
+        customOptions={[{ label: allOptionText, value: undefined }]}
         customOptionText={i18n.translate(
           'xpack.apm.transactionTypesSelectCustomOptionText',
           {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/error_count/register_error_count_rule_type.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/error_count/register_error_count_rule_type.ts
index d97d3f3356a6c..a008dd0d23cb3 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/error_count/register_error_count_rule_type.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/error_count/register_error_count_rule_type.ts
@@ -111,9 +111,7 @@ export function registerErrorCountRuleType({
                     },
                   },
                   { term: { [PROCESSOR_EVENT]: ProcessorEvent.error } },
-                  ...termQuery(SERVICE_NAME, ruleParams.serviceName, {
-                    queryEmptyString: false,
-                  }),
+                  ...termQuery(SERVICE_NAME, ruleParams.serviceName),
                   ...environmentQuery(ruleParams.environment),
                 ],
               },
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_duration/get_transaction_duration_chart_preview.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_duration/get_transaction_duration_chart_preview.ts
index 5ae60917908ce..f7b226216aef0 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_duration/get_transaction_duration_chart_preview.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_duration/get_transaction_duration_chart_preview.ts
@@ -63,15 +63,9 @@ export async function getTransactionDurationChartPreview({
   const query = {
     bool: {
       filter: [
-        ...termQuery(SERVICE_NAME, serviceName, {
-          queryEmptyString: false,
-        }),
-        ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_TYPE, transactionType, {
-          queryEmptyString: false,
-        }),
-        ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_NAME, transactionName, {
-          queryEmptyString: false,
-        }),
+        ...termQuery(SERVICE_NAME, serviceName),
+        ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_TYPE, transactionType),
+        ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_NAME, transactionName),
         ...rangeQuery(start, end),
         ...environmentQuery(environment),
         ...getDocumentTypeFilterForTransactions(searchAggregatedTransactions),
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_duration/register_transaction_duration_rule_type.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_duration/register_transaction_duration_rule_type.ts
index 9bb21324c22b7..9df114c9a8c8c 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_duration/register_transaction_duration_rule_type.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_duration/register_transaction_duration_rule_type.ts
@@ -148,15 +148,9 @@ export function registerTransactionDurationRuleType({
                 ...getDocumentTypeFilterForTransactions(
                   searchAggregatedTransactions
                 ),
-                ...termQuery(SERVICE_NAME, ruleParams.serviceName, {
-                  queryEmptyString: false,
-                }),
-                ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_TYPE, ruleParams.transactionType, {
-                  queryEmptyString: false,
-                }),
-                ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_NAME, ruleParams.transactionName, {
-                  queryEmptyString: false,
-                }),
+                ...termQuery(SERVICE_NAME, ruleParams.serviceName),
+                ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_TYPE, ruleParams.transactionType),
+                ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_NAME, ruleParams.transactionName),
                 ...environmentQuery(ruleParams.environment),
               ] as QueryDslQueryContainer[],
             },
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_error_rate/register_transaction_error_rate_rule_type.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_error_rate/register_transaction_error_rate_rule_type.ts
index eac21063bc40b..7ceaf8ca78048 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_error_rate/register_transaction_error_rate_rule_type.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/routes/alerts/rule_types/transaction_error_rate/register_transaction_error_rate_rule_type.ts
@@ -142,12 +142,8 @@ export function registerTransactionErrorRateRuleType({
                       ],
                     },
                   },
-                  ...termQuery(SERVICE_NAME, ruleParams.serviceName, {
-                    queryEmptyString: false,
-                  }),
-                  ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_TYPE, ruleParams.transactionType, {
-                    queryEmptyString: false,
-                  }),
+                  ...termQuery(SERVICE_NAME, ruleParams.serviceName),
+                  ...termQuery(TRANSACTION_TYPE, ruleParams.transactionType),
                   ...environmentQuery(ruleParams.environment),
                 ],
               },