diff --git a/docs/source/cli/run-tests.md b/docs/source/cli/run-tests.md
index bd02d1e40..9706e7951 100644
--- a/docs/source/cli/run-tests.md
+++ b/docs/source/cli/run-tests.md
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ the base class will attempt to:
 1. Use a local connection based on the `JUMPSTARTER_HOST` environment variable
 2. Use an existing lease based on the `JMP_LEASE` environment variable, and existing credentials.
    See the cli reference for [jmp lease request](../cli-reference/jmp.md#jmp-lease-request).
-3. Request a lease based on the `filter_labels` provided in the test class.
+3. Request a lease based on the `selector` provided in the test class.
 
 ```{eval-rst}
 .. autoclass:: jumpstarter_testing.pytest.JumpstarterTest
diff --git a/examples/soc-pytest/jumpstarter_example_soc_pytest/test_on_rpi4.py b/examples/soc-pytest/jumpstarter_example_soc_pytest/test_on_rpi4.py
index 9b40f1c02..353ac8bf6 100644
--- a/examples/soc-pytest/jumpstarter_example_soc_pytest/test_on_rpi4.py
+++ b/examples/soc-pytest/jumpstarter_example_soc_pytest/test_on_rpi4.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 
 class TestResource(JumpstarterTest):
-    filter_labels = {"board": "rpi4"}
+    selector = "board=rpi4"
 
     @pytest.fixture()
     def console(self, client):
diff --git a/packages/jumpstarter-cli-client/jumpstarter_cli_client/client_shell.py b/packages/jumpstarter-cli-client/jumpstarter_cli_client/client_shell.py
index 5d0168f73..985c10000 100644
--- a/packages/jumpstarter-cli-client/jumpstarter_cli_client/client_shell.py
+++ b/packages/jumpstarter-cli-client/jumpstarter_cli_client/client_shell.py
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@
 import asyncclick as click
 from jumpstarter_cli_common.exceptions import handle_exceptions
 
-from .common import opt_config, opt_selector_simple, selector_to_labels
-from jumpstarter.common import MetadataFilter
+from .common import opt_config, opt_selector_simple
 from jumpstarter.common.utils import launch_shell
 
 
@@ -18,9 +17,7 @@ def client_shell(config, selector: str, lease_name):
 
     exit_code = 0
 
-    with config.lease(
-        metadata_filter=MetadataFilter(labels=selector_to_labels(selector)), lease_name=lease_name
-    ) as lease:
+    with config.lease(selector=selector, lease_name=lease_name) as lease:
         with lease.serve_unix() as path:
             with lease.monitor():
                 exit_code = launch_shell(path, "remote", config.drivers.allow, config.drivers.unsafe)
diff --git a/packages/jumpstarter-cli-client/jumpstarter_cli_client/common.py b/packages/jumpstarter-cli-client/jumpstarter_cli_client/common.py
index 665f2fe84..26c9fd64e 100644
--- a/packages/jumpstarter-cli-client/jumpstarter_cli_client/common.py
+++ b/packages/jumpstarter-cli-client/jumpstarter_cli_client/common.py
@@ -24,11 +24,6 @@
 )
 
 
-def selector_to_labels(selector: str):
-    # TODO: support complex selectors (e.g. !=)
-    return dict([term.split("=") for term in selector.split(",")])
-
-
 class ClientParamType(click.ParamType):
     name = "client"
 
diff --git a/packages/jumpstarter-driver-dutlink/examples/dutlink.py b/packages/jumpstarter-driver-dutlink/examples/dutlink.py
index 80add81a9..bda1994d0 100755
--- a/packages/jumpstarter-driver-dutlink/examples/dutlink.py
+++ b/packages/jumpstarter-driver-dutlink/examples/dutlink.py
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@
 from jumpstarter.common.utils import env
 
 # initialize client from exporter config
-# from jumpstarter.common import MetadataFilter
 # from jumpstarter.config.client import ClientConfigV1Alpha1
-# with ClientConfigV1Alpha1.load("default").lease(metadata_filter=MetadataFilter()) as lease:
+# with ClientConfigV1Alpha1.load("default").lease(selector="example.com/board=dutlink") as lease:
 #     with lease.connect() as client:
 
 # initialize client from environment
diff --git a/packages/jumpstarter-driver-tftp/examples/tftp_test.py b/packages/jumpstarter-driver-tftp/examples/tftp_test.py
index c5aa221cb..5423fb4ad 100644
--- a/packages/jumpstarter-driver-tftp/examples/tftp_test.py
+++ b/packages/jumpstarter-driver-tftp/examples/tftp_test.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 
 class TestResource(JumpstarterTest):
-    filter_labels = {"board": "rpi4"}
+    selector = "board=rpi4"
 
     @pytest.fixture()
     def setup_tftp(self, client):
diff --git a/packages/jumpstarter-testing/jumpstarter_testing/pytest.py b/packages/jumpstarter-testing/jumpstarter_testing/pytest.py
index 7d3908c8d..660496120 100644
--- a/packages/jumpstarter-testing/jumpstarter_testing/pytest.py
+++ b/packages/jumpstarter-testing/jumpstarter_testing/pytest.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-from jumpstarter.common import MetadataFilter
 from jumpstarter.common.utils import env
 from jumpstarter.config.client import ClientConfigV1Alpha1
 
@@ -19,7 +18,7 @@ class JumpstarterTest:
 
     Looks for the `JUMPSTARTER_HOST` environment variable to connect to an
     established Jumpstarter shell, otherwise it will try to acquire a lease
-    for a single exporter using the filter_labels annotation.
+    for a single exporter using the selector annotation.
     i.e.:
 
     .. code-block:: python
@@ -33,7 +32,7 @@ class JumpstarterTest:
         log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
         class TestResource(JumpstarterTest):
-            filter_labels = {"board":"rpi4"}
+            selector = "board=rpi4"
 
             @pytest.fixture()
             def console(self, client):
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ def test_setup_device(self, client, console):
 
     """
 
-    filter_labels: ClassVar[dict[str, str]]
+    selector: ClassVar[str]
 
     @pytest.fixture(scope="class")
     def client(self):
@@ -57,9 +56,9 @@ def client(self):
             with env() as client:
                 yield client
         except RuntimeError:
-            labels = getattr(self, "filter_labels", {})
+            selector = getattr(self, "selector", None)
             config = ClientConfigV1Alpha1.load("default")
-            with config.lease(metadata_filter=MetadataFilter(labels=labels)) as lease:
+            with config.lease(selector=selector) as lease:
                 with lease.connect() as client:
                     yield client
         # BUG workaround: make sure that grpc servers get the client/lease release properly
diff --git a/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/client/lease.py b/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/client/lease.py
index 3ae519678..dc4cbcab7 100644
--- a/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/client/lease.py
+++ b/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/client/lease.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 from .exceptions import LeaseError
 from jumpstarter.client import client_from_path
 from jumpstarter.client.grpc import ClientService
-from jumpstarter.common import MetadataFilter, TemporaryUnixListener
+from jumpstarter.common import TemporaryUnixListener
 from jumpstarter.common.condition import condition_false, condition_message, condition_present_and_equal, condition_true
 from jumpstarter.common.grpc import translate_grpc_exceptions
 from jumpstarter.common.streams import connect_router_stream
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 class Lease(AbstractContextManager, AbstractAsyncContextManager):
     channel: Channel
     timeout: int = 1800
-    metadata_filter: MetadataFilter = field(default_factory=MetadataFilter)
+    selector: str
     portal: BlockingPortal
     namespace: str
     name: str | None = field(default=None)
@@ -52,17 +52,16 @@ def __post_init__(self):
 
     async def _create(self):
         duration = timedelta(seconds=self.timeout)
-        selector = ",".join(("{}={}".format(label[0], label[1]) for label in self.metadata_filter.labels.items()))
 
-        logger.debug("Creating lease request for selector %s for duration %s", selector, duration)
+        logger.debug("Creating lease request for selector %s for duration %s", self.selector, duration)
         with translate_grpc_exceptions():
             self.name = (
                 await self.svc.CreateLease(
-                    selector=selector,
+                    selector=self.selector,
                     duration=timedelta(seconds=self.timeout),
                 )
             ).name
-        logger.info("Created lease request for selector %s for duration %s", selector, duration)
+        logger.info("Created lease request for selector %s for duration %s", self.selector, duration)
 
     async def get(self):
         with translate_grpc_exceptions():
diff --git a/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/common/__init__.py b/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/common/__init__.py
index f4960f4eb..13058cb09 100644
--- a/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/common/__init__.py
+++ b/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/common/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from .metadata import Metadata, MetadataFilter
+from .metadata import Metadata
 from .tempfile import TemporarySocket, TemporaryTcpListener, TemporaryUnixListener
 
-__all__ = ["Metadata", "MetadataFilter", "TemporarySocket", "TemporaryUnixListener", "TemporaryTcpListener"]
+__all__ = ["Metadata", "TemporarySocket", "TemporaryUnixListener", "TemporaryTcpListener"]
diff --git a/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/common/metadata.py b/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/common/metadata.py
index fbacc96e6..cb9309fff 100644
--- a/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/common/metadata.py
+++ b/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/common/metadata.py
@@ -12,8 +12,3 @@ class Metadata:
     @property
     def name(self):
         return self.labels.get("jumpstarter.dev/name", "unknown")
-
-
-@dataclass(kw_only=True, slots=True)
-class MetadataFilter:
-    labels: dict[str, str] = field(default_factory=dict)
diff --git a/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/config/client.py b/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/config/client.py
index 715038daf..7c2ddf88c 100644
--- a/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/config/client.py
+++ b/packages/jumpstarter/jumpstarter/config/client.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 from .grpc import call_credentials
 from .tls import TLSConfigV1Alpha1
 from jumpstarter.client.grpc import ClientService
-from jumpstarter.common import MetadataFilter
 from jumpstarter.common.exceptions import FileNotFoundError
 from jumpstarter.common.grpc import aio_secure_channel, ssl_channel_credentials, translate_grpc_exceptions
 
@@ -62,9 +61,9 @@ async def channel(self):
         return aio_secure_channel(self.endpoint, credentials, self.grpcOptions)
 
     @contextmanager
-    def lease(self, metadata_filter: MetadataFilter, lease_name: str | None = None):
+    def lease(self, selector: str | None = None, lease_name: str | None = None):
         with start_blocking_portal() as portal:
-            with portal.wrap_async_context_manager(self.lease_async(metadata_filter, lease_name, portal)) as lease:
+            with portal.wrap_async_context_manager(self.lease_async(selector, lease_name, portal)) as lease:
                 yield lease
 
     def get_exporter(self, name: str):
@@ -80,9 +79,9 @@ def list_exporters(
         with start_blocking_portal() as portal:
             return portal.call(self.list_exporters_async, page_size, page_token, filter)
 
-    def request_lease(self, metadata_filter: MetadataFilter):
+    def request_lease(self, selector: str):
         with start_blocking_portal() as portal:
-            return portal.call(self.request_lease_async, metadata_filter, portal)
+            return portal.call(self.request_lease_async, selector, portal)
 
     def list_leases(self, filter: str):
         with start_blocking_portal() as portal:
@@ -147,7 +146,7 @@ async def delete_lease_async(self, name: str):
 
     async def request_lease_async(
         self,
-        metadata_filter: MetadataFilter,
+        selector: str,
         portal: BlockingPortal,
     ):
         # dynamically import to avoid circular imports
@@ -157,7 +156,7 @@ async def request_lease_async(
             channel=await self.channel(),
             namespace=self.metadata.namespace,
             name=None,
-            metadata_filter=metadata_filter,
+            selector=selector,
             portal=portal,
             allow=self.drivers.allow,
             unsafe=self.drivers.unsafe,
@@ -185,7 +184,7 @@ async def release_lease_async(self, name):
     @asynccontextmanager
     async def lease_async(
         self,
-        metadata_filter: MetadataFilter,
+        selector: str,
         lease_name: str | None,
         portal: BlockingPortal,
     ):
@@ -200,7 +199,7 @@ async def lease_async(
             channel=await self.channel(),
             namespace=self.metadata.namespace,
             name=lease_name,
-            metadata_filter=metadata_filter,
+            selector=selector,
             portal=portal,
             allow=self.drivers.allow,
             unsafe=self.drivers.unsafe,