diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/gl_dropdown.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/gl_dropdown.js.coffee
index 5ffacf9a184..1b0d0db8954 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/gl_dropdown.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/gl_dropdown.js.coffee
@@ -518,7 +518,9 @@ class GitLabDropdown
         if !field.length and fieldName
           @addInput(fieldName, value)
         else
-          field.val value
+          field
+            .val value
+            .trigger 'change'
 
       return selectedObject
 
diff --git a/spec/features/compare_spec.rb b/spec/features/compare_spec.rb
index faffe314912..c62556948e0 100644
--- a/spec/features/compare_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/compare_spec.rb
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ describe "Compare", js: true do
     end
 
     it "should compare branches" do
-      fill_in "from", with: "mast"
+      fill_in "from", with: "fea"
       find("#from").click
 
       click_link "feature"