diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/exploration.test.tsx b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/exploration.test.tsx
index 92f438459128e..013ea8ddc78a5 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/exploration.test.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/exploration.test.tsx
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 import { shallow } from 'enzyme';
 import React from 'react';
 import { DATA_FRAME_TASK_STATE } from '../../../analytics_management/components/analytics_list/common';
+import { KibanaContext } from '../../../../../contexts/kibana';
+import { kibanaContextValueMock } from '../../../../../contexts/kibana/__mocks__/kibana_context_value';
 
 jest.mock('../../../../../contexts/ui/use_ui_chrome_context');
 jest.mock('ui/new_platform');
@@ -22,7 +24,9 @@ jest.mock('react', () => {
 describe('Data Frame Analytics: <Exploration />', () => {
   test('Minimal initialization', () => {
     const wrapper = shallow(
-      <Exploration jobId="the-job-id" jobStatus={DATA_FRAME_TASK_STATE.STOPPED} />
+      <KibanaContext.Provider value={kibanaContextValueMock}>
+        <Exploration jobId="the-job-id" jobStatus={DATA_FRAME_TASK_STATE.STOPPED} />
+      </KibanaContext.Provider>
     );
     // Without the jobConfig being loaded, the component will just return empty.
     expect(wrapper.text()).toMatch('');
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/exploration.tsx b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/exploration.tsx
index 9691a0706121c..098f8f07bee44 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/exploration.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/exploration.tsx
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ import {
   SEARCH_SIZE,
   defaultSearchQuery,
 } from '../../../../common';
+import { isKeywordAndTextType } from '../../../../common/fields';
 
 import { getOutlierScoreFieldName } from './common';
 import { useExploreData, TableItem } from './use_explore_data';
@@ -64,6 +65,10 @@ import {
 } from '../../../analytics_management/components/analytics_list/common';
 import { getTaskStateBadge } from '../../../analytics_management/components/analytics_list/columns';
 import { SavedSearchQuery } from '../../../../../contexts/kibana';
+import { getIndexPatternIdFromName } from '../../../../../util/index_utils';
+import { IIndexPattern } from '../../../../../../../../../../../src/plugins/data/common/index_patterns';
+import { newJobCapsService } from '../../../../../services/new_job_capabilities_service';
+import { useKibanaContext } from '../../../../../contexts/kibana';
 
 const FEATURE_INFLUENCE = 'feature_influence';
 
@@ -110,6 +115,19 @@ export const Exploration: FC<Props> = React.memo(({ jobId, jobStatus }) => {
   const [searchError, setSearchError] = useState<any>(undefined);
   const [searchString, setSearchString] = useState<string | undefined>(undefined);
 
+  const kibanaContext = useKibanaContext();
+
+  const initializeJobCapsService = async () => {
+    if (jobConfig !== undefined) {
+      const sourceIndex = jobConfig.source.index[0];
+      const indexPatternId = getIndexPatternIdFromName(sourceIndex) || sourceIndex;
+      const indexPattern: IIndexPattern = await kibanaContext.indexPatterns.get(indexPatternId);
+      if (indexPattern !== undefined) {
+        await newJobCapsService.initializeFromIndexPattern(indexPattern, false, false);
+      }
+    }
+  };
+
   useEffect(() => {
     (async function() {
       const analyticsConfigs: GetDataFrameAnalyticsResponse = await ml.dataFrameAnalytics.getDataFrameAnalytics(
@@ -124,6 +142,10 @@ export const Exploration: FC<Props> = React.memo(({ jobId, jobStatus }) => {
     })();
   }, []);
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    initializeJobCapsService();
+  }, [jobConfig && jobConfig.id]);
+
   const [selectedFields, setSelectedFields] = useState([] as EsFieldName[]);
   const [isColumnsPopoverVisible, setColumnsPopoverVisible] = useState(false);
 
@@ -293,10 +315,16 @@ export const Exploration: FC<Props> = React.memo(({ jobId, jobStatus }) => {
     if (jobConfig !== undefined) {
       const outlierScoreFieldName = getOutlierScoreFieldName(jobConfig);
       const outlierScoreFieldSelected = selectedFields.includes(outlierScoreFieldName);
+      let requiresKeyword = false;
 
       const field = outlierScoreFieldSelected ? outlierScoreFieldName : selectedFields[0];
       const direction = outlierScoreFieldSelected ? SORT_DIRECTION.DESC : SORT_DIRECTION.ASC;
-      loadExploreData({ field, direction, searchQuery });
+
+      if (outlierScoreFieldSelected === false) {
+        requiresKeyword = isKeywordAndTextType(field);
+      }
+
+      loadExploreData({ field, direction, searchQuery, requiresKeyword });
     }
   }, [JSON.stringify(searchQuery)]);
 
@@ -307,10 +335,16 @@ export const Exploration: FC<Props> = React.memo(({ jobId, jobStatus }) => {
     if (jobConfig !== undefined && columns.length > 0 && !selectedFields.includes(sortField)) {
       const outlierScoreFieldName = getOutlierScoreFieldName(jobConfig);
       const outlierScoreFieldSelected = selectedFields.includes(outlierScoreFieldName);
+      let requiresKeyword = false;
 
       const field = outlierScoreFieldSelected ? outlierScoreFieldName : selectedFields[0];
       const direction = outlierScoreFieldSelected ? SORT_DIRECTION.DESC : SORT_DIRECTION.ASC;
-      loadExploreData({ field, direction, searchQuery });
+
+      if (outlierScoreFieldSelected === false) {
+        requiresKeyword = isKeywordAndTextType(field);
+      }
+
+      loadExploreData({ field, direction, searchQuery, requiresKeyword });
       return;
     }
   }, [jobConfig, columns.length, sortField, sortDirection, tableItems.length]);
@@ -334,8 +368,17 @@ export const Exploration: FC<Props> = React.memo(({ jobId, jobStatus }) => {
       setPageIndex(index);
       setPageSize(size);
 
-      if (sort.field !== sortField || sort.direction !== sortDirection) {
-        loadExploreData({ ...sort, searchQuery });
+      if (
+        (sort.field !== sortField || sort.direction !== sortDirection) &&
+        jobConfig !== undefined
+      ) {
+        const outlierScoreFieldName = getOutlierScoreFieldName(jobConfig);
+        let requiresKeyword = false;
+
+        if (outlierScoreFieldName !== sort.field) {
+          requiresKeyword = isKeywordAndTextType(sort.field);
+        }
+        loadExploreData({ ...sort, searchQuery, requiresKeyword });
       }
     };
   }
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/use_explore_data.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/use_explore_data.ts
index e76cbaa463f1d..24cc8d000de7e 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/use_explore_data.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/ml/public/application/data_frame_analytics/pages/analytics_exploration/components/exploration/use_explore_data.ts
@@ -23,18 +23,12 @@ import {
   defaultSearchQuery,
   SearchQuery,
 } from '../../../../common';
+import { LoadExploreDataArg } from '../../../../common/analytics';
 
 import { getOutlierScoreFieldName } from './common';
-import { SavedSearchQuery } from '../../../../../contexts/kibana';
 
 export type TableItem = Record<string, any>;
 
-interface LoadExploreDataArg {
-  field: string;
-  direction: SortDirection;
-  searchQuery: SavedSearchQuery;
-}
-
 export interface UseExploreDataReturnType {
   errorMessage: string;
   loadExploreData: (arg: LoadExploreDataArg) => void;
@@ -55,7 +49,12 @@ export const useExploreData = (
   const [sortField, setSortField] = useState<string>('');
   const [sortDirection, setSortDirection] = useState<SortDirection>(SORT_DIRECTION.ASC);
 
-  const loadExploreData = async ({ field, direction, searchQuery }: LoadExploreDataArg) => {
+  const loadExploreData = async ({
+    field,
+    direction,
+    searchQuery,
+    requiresKeyword,
+  }: LoadExploreDataArg) => {
     if (jobConfig !== undefined) {
       setErrorMessage('');
       setStatus(INDEX_STATUS.LOADING);
@@ -70,7 +69,7 @@ export const useExploreData = (
         if (field !== undefined) {
           body.sort = [
             {
-              [field]: {
+              [`${field}${requiresKeyword ? '.keyword' : ''}`]: {
                 order: direction,
               },
             },