diff --git a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter.go b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter.go
index ae7fed5625c..9ea828b1ad9 100644
--- a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter.go
+++ b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter.go
@@ -13,18 +13,20 @@ var sqlIDAcceptList = map[string]struct{}{
 	"org_user.user_id": {},
 }
 
-const denyQuery = " 1 = 0"
-const allowAllQuery = " 1 = 1"
+var (
+	denyQuery     = SQLFilter{" 1 = 0", nil}
+	allowAllQuery = SQLFilter{" 1 = 1", nil}
+)
 
 // Filter creates a where clause to restrict the view of a query based on a users permissions
 // Scopes for a certain action will be compared against prefix:id:sqlID where prefix is the scope prefix and sqlID
 // is the id to generate scope from e.g. user.id
-func Filter(ctx context.Context, sqlID, prefix, action string, user *models.SignedInUser) (string, []interface{}, error) {
+func Filter(ctx context.Context, sqlID, prefix, action string, user *models.SignedInUser) (SQLFilter, error) {
 	if _, ok := sqlIDAcceptList[sqlID]; !ok {
-		return denyQuery, nil, errors.New("sqlID is not in the accept list")
+		return denyQuery, errors.New("sqlID is not in the accept list")
 	}
-	if user.Permissions == nil || user.Permissions[user.OrgId] == nil {
-		return denyQuery, nil, errors.New("missing permissions")
+	if user == nil || user.Permissions == nil || user.Permissions[user.OrgId] == nil {
+		return denyQuery, errors.New("missing permissions")
 	}
 
 	var hasWildcard bool
@@ -42,11 +44,11 @@ func Filter(ctx context.Context, sqlID, prefix, action string, user *models.Sign
 	}
 
 	if hasWildcard {
-		return allowAllQuery, nil, nil
+		return allowAllQuery, nil
 	}
 
 	if len(ids) == 0 {
-		return denyQuery, nil, nil
+		return denyQuery, nil
 	}
 
 	query := strings.Builder{}
@@ -57,7 +59,7 @@ func Filter(ctx context.Context, sqlID, prefix, action string, user *models.Sign
 	query.WriteString(strings.Repeat(",?", len(ids)-1))
 	query.WriteRune(')')
 
-	return query.String(), ids, nil
+	return SQLFilter{query.String(), ids}, nil
 }
 
 func parseScopeID(scope string) (int64, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter_bench_test.go b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter_bench_test.go
index 7ef51af5251..126eaf4adb4 100644
--- a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter_bench_test.go
+++ b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter_bench_test.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func benchmarkFilter(b *testing.B, numDs, numPermissions int) {
 
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 		baseSql := `SELECT data_source.* FROM data_source WHERE`
-		query, args, err := accesscontrol.Filter(
+		acFilter, err := accesscontrol.Filter(
 			context.Background(),
 			"data_source.id",
 			"datasources",
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func benchmarkFilter(b *testing.B, numDs, numPermissions int) {
 
 		var datasources []models.DataSource
 		sess := store.NewSession(context.Background())
-		err = sess.SQL(baseSql+query, args...).Find(&datasources)
+		err = sess.SQL(baseSql+acFilter.Where, acFilter.Args...).Find(&datasources)
 		require.NoError(b, err)
 		sess.Close()
 		require.Len(b, datasources, numPermissions)
diff --git a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter_test.go b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter_test.go
index aa71df99b0a..2dcfbb65eed 100644
--- a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter_test.go
+++ b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/filter_test.go
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func TestFilter_Datasources(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 
 			baseSql := `SELECT data_source.* FROM data_source WHERE`
-			query, args, err := accesscontrol.Filter(
+			acFilter, err := accesscontrol.Filter(
 				context.Background(),
 				tt.sqlID,
 				"datasources",
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ func TestFilter_Datasources(t *testing.T) {
 			if !tt.expectErr {
 				require.NoError(t, err)
 				var datasources []models.DataSource
-				err = sess.SQL(baseSql+query, args...).Find(&datasources)
+				err = sess.SQL(baseSql+acFilter.Where, acFilter.Args...).Find(&datasources)
 				require.NoError(t, err)
 
 				assert.Len(t, datasources, len(tt.expectedDataSources))
diff --git a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/models.go b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/models.go
index a1d7c62e9fa..a2925aefda5 100644
--- a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/models.go
+++ b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/models.go
@@ -248,6 +248,11 @@ type GetResourcesPermissionsQuery struct {
 	OnlyManaged bool
 }
 
+type SQLFilter struct {
+	Where string
+	Args  []interface{}
+}
+
 const (
 	GlobalOrgID = 0
 	// Permission actions
diff --git a/pkg/services/sqlstore/org_users.go b/pkg/services/sqlstore/org_users.go
index 6c81c92d5a9..0af6765da50 100644
--- a/pkg/services/sqlstore/org_users.go
+++ b/pkg/services/sqlstore/org_users.go
@@ -119,12 +119,12 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) GetOrgUsers(ctx context.Context, query *models.GetOrgUsersQu
 	whereConditions = append(whereConditions, fmt.Sprintf("%s.is_service_account = %t", x.Dialect().Quote("user"), query.IsServiceAccount))
 
 	if ss.Cfg.IsFeatureToggleEnabled(featuremgmt.FlagAccesscontrol) && query.User != nil {
-		q, args, err := accesscontrol.Filter(ctx, "org_user.user_id", "users", "org.users:read", query.User)
+		acFilter, err := accesscontrol.Filter(ctx, "org_user.user_id", "users", "org.users:read", query.User)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		whereConditions = append(whereConditions, q)
-		whereParams = append(whereParams, args...)
+		whereConditions = append(whereConditions, acFilter.Where)
+		whereParams = append(whereParams, acFilter.Args...)
 	}
 
 	if query.Query != "" {
@@ -182,12 +182,12 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) SearchOrgUsers(ctx context.Context, query *models.SearchOrgU
 	whereConditions = append(whereConditions, fmt.Sprintf("%s.is_service_account = %t", x.Dialect().Quote("user"), query.IsServiceAccount))
 
 	if ss.Cfg.IsFeatureToggleEnabled(featuremgmt.FlagAccesscontrol) {
-		q, args, err := accesscontrol.Filter(ctx, "org_user.user_id", "users", "org.users:read", query.User)
+		acFilter, err := accesscontrol.Filter(ctx, "org_user.user_id", "users", "org.users:read", query.User)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		whereConditions = append(whereConditions, q)
-		whereParams = append(whereParams, args...)
+		whereConditions = append(whereConditions, acFilter.Where)
+		whereParams = append(whereParams, acFilter.Args...)
 	}
 
 	if query.Query != "" {