diff --git a/rest_framework/filters.py b/rest_framework/filters.py
index d2145ebf6..36a77addd 100644
--- a/rest_framework/filters.py
+++ b/rest_framework/filters.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class SimpleDjangoFilterBackend(BaseFilterBackend):
         for k, v in request.QUERY_PARAMS.iteritems():
             # if entry point matches, collect the original key
             if k.split('__')[0] in fields:
-                params.update({k: v[0]})
+                params.update({k: v[0] if isinstance(v, list) else v})
         return queryset.filter(**params)