diff --git a/.changeset/happy-cups-tap.md b/.changeset/happy-cups-tap.md
index 307b6fb4fc..051f9def1c 100644
--- a/.changeset/happy-cups-tap.md
+++ b/.changeset/happy-cups-tap.md
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 ---
-'example-backend': patch
 '@backstage/plugin-catalog-backend': patch
 ---
 
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/config.d.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/config.d.ts
index 5a9291541c..7da9cad139 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/config.d.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/config.d.ts
@@ -179,17 +179,5 @@ export interface Config {
         };
       };
     };
-
-    /**
-     * Configuration for search collation
-     */
-    search?: {
-      /**
-       * Request search to only index these particular kinds.
-       *
-       * E.g. ["Component", "API", "Template", "Location"]
-       */
-      allow: Array<string>;
-    };
   };
 }
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.test.ts
index c19d2d21a6..f1b7cfe862 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.test.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@
 
 import { PluginEndpointDiscovery } from '@backstage/backend-common';
 import { Entity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
-import { DefaultCatalogCollator } from './DefaultCatalogCollator';
+import {
+  DefaultCatalogCollator,
+  mapFilterToQueryString,
+} from './DefaultCatalogCollator';
 import { setupServer } from 'msw/node';
 import { rest } from 'msw';
 import { ConfigReader } from '@backstage/config';
@@ -105,21 +108,35 @@ describe('DefaultCatalogCollator', () => {
   });
 
   it('allows filtering of the retrieved catalog entities', async () => {
-    const config = new ConfigReader({
-      catalog: {
-        search: {
-          allow: ['Foo', 'Bar'],
-        },
-      },
-    });
-
     // Provide an alternate location template.
-    collator = DefaultCatalogCollator.fromConfig(config, {
+    collator = DefaultCatalogCollator.fromConfig(new ConfigReader({}), {
       discovery: mockDiscoveryApi,
+      filter: {
+        kind: ['Foo', 'Bar'],
+      },
     });
 
     const documents = await collator.execute();
     // The simulated 'Foo,Bar' filter should return in an empty list
     expect(documents).toHaveLength(0);
   });
+
+  it('can map filters to query strings', () => {
+    expect(
+      mapFilterToQueryString({
+        a: 'Foo',
+      }),
+    ).toEqual('?filter=a=Foo');
+    expect(
+      mapFilterToQueryString({
+        a: ['Foo', 'Bar'],
+      }),
+    ).toEqual('?filter=a=Foo,Bar');
+    expect(
+      mapFilterToQueryString({
+        a: ['Foo', 'Bar'],
+        b: ['Quu', 'Qux'],
+      }),
+    ).toEqual('?filter=a=Foo,Bar,b=Quu,Qux');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts
index 4043cf1c1d..b372350a08 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import { Entity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { IndexableDocument, DocumentCollator } from '@backstage/search-common';
 import fetch from 'cross-fetch';
 import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
+import { CatalogEntitiesRequest } from '@backstage/catalog-client';
 
 export interface CatalogEntityDocument extends IndexableDocument {
   componentType: string;
@@ -31,36 +32,34 @@ export interface CatalogEntityDocument extends IndexableDocument {
 export class DefaultCatalogCollator implements DocumentCollator {
   protected discovery: PluginEndpointDiscovery;
   protected locationTemplate: string;
-  protected filterUrl: string;
+  protected filterUrl?: string;
   public readonly type: string = 'software-catalog';
 
   static fromConfig(
-    config: Config,
-    options: { discovery: PluginEndpointDiscovery },
+    _config: Config,
+    options: {
+      discovery: PluginEndpointDiscovery;
+      filter?: CatalogEntitiesRequest['filter'];
+    },
   ) {
     return new DefaultCatalogCollator({
       ...options,
-      allow: config.getOptionalStringArray('catalog.search.allow'),
     });
   }
 
   constructor({
     discovery,
     locationTemplate,
-    allow,
+    filter,
   }: {
     discovery: PluginEndpointDiscovery;
     locationTemplate?: string;
-    allow?: string[];
+    filter?: CatalogEntitiesRequest['filter'];
   }) {
     this.discovery = discovery;
     this.locationTemplate =
       locationTemplate || '/catalog/:namespace/:kind/:name';
-    if (allow && allow.length) {
-      this.filterUrl = `?filter=kind=${allow.join(',')}`;
-    } else {
-      this.filterUrl = '';
-    }
+    this.filterUrl = mapFilterToQueryString(filter);
   }
 
   protected applyArgsToFormat(
@@ -76,7 +75,7 @@ export class DefaultCatalogCollator implements DocumentCollator {
 
   async execute() {
     const baseUrl = await this.discovery.getBaseUrl('catalog');
-    const res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/entities${this.filterUrl}`);
+    const res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/entities${this.filterUrl || ''}`);
     const entities: Entity[] = await res.json();
     return entities.map((entity: Entity): CatalogEntityDocument => {
       return {
@@ -96,3 +95,18 @@ export class DefaultCatalogCollator implements DocumentCollator {
     });
   }
 }
+
+export function mapFilterToQueryString(
+  filter: CatalogEntitiesRequest['filter'],
+): string | undefined {
+  if (!filter) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  const mappedFilters = Object.entries(filter).map(kvp => {
+    const type = kvp[0];
+    const values = [].concat(kvp[1]);
+    return `${type}=${values.join(',')}`;
+  });
+  return `?filter=${mappedFilters.join(',')}`;
+}
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/index.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/index.ts
index 7e13999864..dfe1cf541e 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/index.ts
@@ -14,4 +14,4 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-export * from './DefaultCatalogCollator';
+export { DefaultCatalogCollator } from './DefaultCatalogCollator';