diff --git a/app/views/dashboard/groups/_groups.html.haml b/app/views/dashboard/groups/_groups.html.haml
index 94d53b78c0f..db856ef7d7b 100644
--- a/app/views/dashboard/groups/_groups.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/dashboard/groups/_groups.html.haml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 .js-groups-list-holder
   #js-groups-tree{ data: { hide_projects: 'true', endpoint: dashboard_groups_path(format: :json), path: dashboard_groups_path, form_sel: 'form#group-filter-form', filter_sel: '.js-groups-list-filter', holder_sel: '.js-groups-list-holder', dropdown_sel: '.js-group-filter-dropdown-wrap' } }
     .loading-container.text-center
-      = icon('spinner spin 2x', class: 'loading-animation prepend-top-20 qa-loading-animation')
+      = icon('spinner spin 2x', class: 'loading-animation prepend-top-20')
diff --git a/app/views/shared/groups/_empty_state.html.haml b/app/views/shared/groups/_empty_state.html.haml
index c35f6f5a3c1..f6b3a49eacb 100644
--- a/app/views/shared/groups/_empty_state.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/shared/groups/_empty_state.html.haml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.group-empty-state.row.align-items-center.justify-content-center.qa-groups-empty-state
+.group-empty-state.row.align-items-center.justify-content-center
   .icon.text-center.order-md-2
     = custom_icon("icon_empty_groups")
 
diff --git a/qa/qa/page/component/groups_filter.rb b/qa/qa/page/component/groups_filter.rb
index 4c1c3953db6..cc50bb439b4 100644
--- a/qa/qa/page/component/groups_filter.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/page/component/groups_filter.rb
@@ -9,52 +9,26 @@ module QA
             element :groups_filter
           end
 
-          base.view 'app/views/shared/groups/_empty_state.html.haml' do
-            element :groups_empty_state
-          end
-
           base.view 'app/assets/javascripts/groups/components/groups.vue' do
             element :groups_list_tree_container
           end
-
-          base.view 'app/views/dashboard/groups/_groups.html.haml' do
-            element :loading_animation
-          end
         end
 
         private
 
-        # Filter the list of groups/projects by name
-        # If submit is true the return key will be sent to the browser to reload
-        # the page and fetch only the filtered results
-        def filter_by_name(name, submit: false)
-          wait(reload: false) do
-            # Wait 0 for the empty state element because it is there immediately
-            # if there are no groups. Otherwise there's a loading indicator and
-            # then groups_list_tree_container appears, which might take longer
-            page.has_css?(element_selector_css(:groups_empty_state), wait: 0) ||
-              page.has_css?(element_selector_css(:groups_list_tree_container))
-          end
-
-          field = find_element :groups_filter
-          field.set(name)
-          field.send_keys(:return) if submit
-        end
-
         def has_filtered_group?(name)
           # Filter and submit to reload the page and only retrieve the filtered results
-          filter_by_name(name, submit: true)
+          find_element(:groups_filter).set(name).send_keys(:return)
 
-          # Since we submitted after filtering the absence of the loading
-          # animation and the presence of groups_list_tree_container means we
-          # have the complete filtered list of groups
+          # Since we submitted after filtering, the presence of
+          # groups_list_tree_container means we have the complete filtered list
+          # of groups
           wait(reload: false) do
-            page.has_no_css?(element_selector_css(:loading_animation)) &&
-              page.has_css?(element_selector_css(:groups_list_tree_container))
+            page.has_css?(element_selector_css(:groups_list_tree_container))
           end
 
           # If there are no groups we'll know immediately because we filtered the list
-          return if page.has_text?(/No groups or projects matched your search/, wait: 0)
+          return false if page.has_text?('No groups or projects matched your search', wait: 0)
 
           # The name will be present as filter input so we check for a link, not text
           page.has_link?(name, wait: 0)