diff --git a/python/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.sip b/python/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.sip
index e9f75c851c8..d657557b89d 100644
--- a/python/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.sip
+++ b/python/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.sip
@@ -257,16 +257,8 @@ Will select all text when this widget receives the focus.
 %End
 
   protected:
-    virtual void mousePressEvent( QMouseEvent *e );
-
-    virtual void mouseMoveEvent( QMouseEvent *e );
-
     virtual void focusInEvent( QFocusEvent *e );
 
-    virtual void paintEvent( QPaintEvent *e );
-
-    virtual void leaveEvent( QEvent *e );
-
 
 };
 
diff --git a/src/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.cpp b/src/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.cpp
index 2012efd3bfa..d654a93f013 100644
--- a/src/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "qgsapplication.h"
 #include "qgsanimatedicon.h"
 
+#include <QAction>
 #include <QToolButton>
 #include <QStyle>
 #include <QFocusEvent>
@@ -28,27 +29,22 @@ QgsFilterLineEdit::QgsFilterLineEdit( QWidget *parent, const QString &nullValue
   : QLineEdit( parent )
   , mNullValue( nullValue )
 {
-  // need mouse tracking to handle cursor changes
-  setMouseTracking( true );
-
-  QIcon clearIcon = QgsApplication::getThemeIcon( "/mIconClearText.svg" );
-
   // icon size is about 2/3 height of text, but minimum size of 16
   int iconSize = std::floor( std::max( Qgis::UI_SCALE_FACTOR * fontMetrics().height() * 0.75, 16.0 ) );
 
-  mClearIconSize = QSize( iconSize, iconSize );
-  mClearIconPixmap = clearIcon.pixmap( mClearIconSize );
-  QIcon hoverIcon = QgsApplication::getThemeIcon( "/mIconClearTextHover.svg" );
-  mClearHoverPixmap = hoverIcon.pixmap( mClearIconSize );
+  QIcon clearIcon;
+  clearIcon.addPixmap( QgsApplication::getThemeIcon( "/mIconClearText.svg" ).pixmap( QSize( iconSize, iconSize ) ), QIcon::Normal, QIcon::On );
+  clearIcon.addPixmap( QgsApplication::getThemeIcon( "/mIconClearTextHover.svg" ).pixmap( QSize( iconSize, iconSize ) ), QIcon::Selected, QIcon::On );
+  mClearAction = new QAction( clearIcon, this );
+  mClearAction->setCheckable( false );
+  addAction( mClearAction, QLineEdit::TrailingPosition );
+  connect( mClearAction, &QAction::triggered, this, &QgsFilterLineEdit::clearValue );
 
   QIcon searchIcon = QgsApplication::getThemeIcon( "/search.svg" );
-  mSearchIconSize = QSize( iconSize, iconSize );
-  mSearchIconPixmap = searchIcon.pixmap( mSearchIconSize );
-
-  // Make some space for the clear icon
-  QMargins margins( textMargins( ) );
-  margins.setRight( iconSize );
-  setTextMargins( margins );
+  mSearchAction = new QAction( searchIcon, this );
+  mSearchAction->setCheckable( false );
+  addAction( mSearchAction, QLineEdit::TrailingPosition );
+  mSearchAction->setVisible( false );
 
   connect( this, &QLineEdit::textChanged, this,
            &QgsFilterLineEdit::onTextChanged );
@@ -56,56 +52,19 @@ QgsFilterLineEdit::QgsFilterLineEdit( QWidget *parent, const QString &nullValue
 
 void QgsFilterLineEdit::setShowClearButton( bool visible )
 {
-  bool changed = mClearButtonVisible != visible;
   mClearButtonVisible = visible;
-  if ( !visible )
-    mClearHover = false;
-
-  if ( changed )
-    update();
+  updateClearIcon();
 }
 
 void QgsFilterLineEdit::setShowSearchIcon( bool visible )
 {
-  bool changed = mSearchIconVisible != visible;
-  if ( changed )
-  {
-    mSearchIconVisible = visible;
-    update();
-  }
+  mSearchIconVisible = visible;
+  mSearchAction->setVisible( visible );
 }
 
-void QgsFilterLineEdit::mousePressEvent( QMouseEvent *e )
+void QgsFilterLineEdit::updateClearIcon()
 {
-  if ( !mFocusInEvent )
-    QLineEdit::mousePressEvent( e );
-  else
-    mFocusInEvent = false;
-
-  if ( shouldShowClear() && clearRect().contains( e->pos() ) )
-  {
-    clearValue();
-  }
-}
-
-void QgsFilterLineEdit::mouseMoveEvent( QMouseEvent *e )
-{
-  QLineEdit::mouseMoveEvent( e );
-  if ( shouldShowClear() && clearRect().contains( e->pos() ) )
-  {
-    if ( !mClearHover )
-    {
-      setCursor( Qt::ArrowCursor );
-      mClearHover = true;
-      update();
-    }
-  }
-  else if ( mClearHover )
-  {
-    setCursor( Qt::IBeamCursor );
-    mClearHover = false;
-    update();
-  }
+  mClearAction->setVisible( shouldShowClear() );
 }
 
 void QgsFilterLineEdit::focusInEvent( QFocusEvent *e )
@@ -132,57 +91,14 @@ void QgsFilterLineEdit::clearValue()
       break;
   }
 
-  if ( mClearHover )
-  {
-    setCursor( Qt::IBeamCursor );
-    mClearHover = false;
-  }
-
   setModified( true );
   emit cleared();
 }
 
-void QgsFilterLineEdit::paintEvent( QPaintEvent *e )
-{
-  QLineEdit::paintEvent( e );
-  if ( shouldShowClear() )
-  {
-    QRect r = clearRect();
-    QPainter p( this );
-    if ( mClearHover )
-      p.drawPixmap( r.left(), r.top(), mClearHoverPixmap );
-    else
-      p.drawPixmap( r.left(), r.top(), mClearIconPixmap );
-  }
-
-  if ( mSearchIconVisible && !shouldShowClear() )
-  {
-    QRect r = searchRect();
-    QPainter p( this );
-    p.drawPixmap( r.left(), r.top(), mSearchIconPixmap );
-  }
-
-  if ( mShowSpinner )
-  {
-    QRect r = busySpinnerRect();
-    QPainter p( this );
-    p.drawPixmap( r.left(), r.top(), mBusySpinner->icon().pixmap( r.size() ) );
-  }
-}
-
-void QgsFilterLineEdit::leaveEvent( QEvent *e )
-{
-  if ( mClearHover )
-  {
-    mClearHover = false;
-    update();
-  }
-
-  QLineEdit::leaveEvent( e );
-}
-
 void QgsFilterLineEdit::onTextChanged( const QString &text )
 {
+  updateClearIcon();
+
   if ( isNull() )
   {
     setStyleSheet( QStringLiteral( "QLineEdit { font: italic; color: gray; } %1" ).arg( mStyleSheet ) );
@@ -193,17 +109,15 @@ void QgsFilterLineEdit::onTextChanged( const QString &text )
     setStyleSheet( mStyleSheet );
     emit valueChanged( text );
   }
-
-  if ( mClearHover && !shouldShowClear() )
-  {
-    setCursor( Qt::IBeamCursor );
-    mClearHover = false;
-  }
 }
 
 void QgsFilterLineEdit::updateBusySpinner()
 {
-  update();
+  if ( !mBusySpinnerAction )
+  {
+    mBusySpinnerAction = addAction( mBusySpinnerAnimatedIcon->icon(), QLineEdit::TrailingPosition );
+  }
+  mBusySpinnerAction->setIcon( mBusySpinnerAnimatedIcon->icon() );
 }
 
 bool QgsFilterLineEdit::selectOnFocus() const
@@ -227,20 +141,22 @@ bool QgsFilterLineEdit::showSpinner() const
 
 void QgsFilterLineEdit::setShowSpinner( bool showSpinner )
 {
+
   if ( showSpinner == mShowSpinner )
     return;
 
   if ( showSpinner )
   {
-    if ( !mBusySpinner )
-      mBusySpinner = new QgsAnimatedIcon( QgsApplication::iconPath( QStringLiteral( "/mIconLoading.gif" ) ), this );
+    if ( !mBusySpinnerAnimatedIcon )
+      mBusySpinnerAnimatedIcon = new QgsAnimatedIcon( QgsApplication::iconPath( QStringLiteral( "/mIconLoading.gif" ) ), this );
 
-    mBusySpinner->connectFrameChanged( this, &QgsFilterLineEdit::updateBusySpinner );
+    mBusySpinnerAnimatedIcon->connectFrameChanged( this, &QgsFilterLineEdit::updateBusySpinner );
   }
   else
   {
-    mBusySpinner->disconnectFrameChanged( this, &QgsFilterLineEdit::updateBusySpinner );
-    update();
+    mBusySpinnerAnimatedIcon->disconnectFrameChanged( this, &QgsFilterLineEdit::updateBusySpinner );
+    removeAction( mBusySpinnerAction );
+    mBusySpinnerAction = nullptr;
   }
 
   mShowSpinner = showSpinner;
@@ -262,33 +178,3 @@ bool QgsFilterLineEdit::shouldShowClear() const
   }
   return false; //avoid warnings
 }
-
-QRect QgsFilterLineEdit::clearRect() const
-{
-  int frameWidth = style()->pixelMetric( QStyle::PM_DefaultFrameWidth );
-  return QRect( rect().right() - frameWidth * 2 - mClearIconSize.width(),
-                ( rect().bottom() + 1 - mClearIconSize.height() ) / 2,
-                mClearIconSize.width(),
-                mClearIconSize.height() );
-}
-
-QRect QgsFilterLineEdit::busySpinnerRect() const
-{
-  int frameWidth = style()->pixelMetric( QStyle::PM_DefaultFrameWidth );
-
-  int offset = shouldShowClear() ? mClearIconSize.width() + frameWidth * 2 : frameWidth;
-
-  return QRect( rect().right() - offset - mClearIconSize.width(),
-                ( rect().bottom() + 1 - mClearIconSize.height() ) / 2,
-                mClearIconSize.width(),
-                mClearIconSize.height() );
-}
-
-QRect QgsFilterLineEdit::searchRect() const
-{
-  int frameWidth = style()->pixelMetric( QStyle::PM_DefaultFrameWidth );
-  return QRect( rect().left() + frameWidth * 2,
-                ( rect().bottom() + 1 - mSearchIconSize.height() ) / 2,
-                mSearchIconSize.width(),
-                mSearchIconSize.height() );
-}
diff --git a/src/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.h b/src/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.h
index 4e0a0b0797b..a8968177e4c 100644
--- a/src/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.h
+++ b/src/gui/qgsfilterlineedit.h
@@ -254,17 +254,17 @@ class GUI_EXPORT QgsFilterLineEdit : public QLineEdit
     void selectOnFocusChanged();
 
   protected:
-    void mousePressEvent( QMouseEvent *e ) override;
-    void mouseMoveEvent( QMouseEvent *e ) override;
     void focusInEvent( QFocusEvent *e ) override;
-    void paintEvent( QPaintEvent *e ) override;
-    void leaveEvent( QEvent *e ) override;
 
   private slots:
     void onTextChanged( const QString &text );
     void updateBusySpinner();
+    void updateClearIcon();
 
   private:
+    QAction *mClearAction;
+    QAction *mSearchAction;
+    QAction *mBusySpinnerAction = nullptr;
 
     bool mClearButtonVisible = true;
     bool mSearchIconVisible = false;
@@ -276,23 +276,12 @@ class GUI_EXPORT QgsFilterLineEdit : public QLineEdit
     QString mDefaultValue;
     QString mStyleSheet;
     bool mFocusInEvent = false;
-    bool mClearHover = false;
     bool mSelectOnFocus = false;
 
-    QSize mClearIconSize;
-    QPixmap mClearIconPixmap;
-    QPixmap mClearHoverPixmap;
-
-    QSize mSearchIconSize;
-    QPixmap mSearchIconPixmap;
-    QgsAnimatedIcon *mBusySpinner = nullptr;
+    QgsAnimatedIcon *mBusySpinnerAnimatedIcon = nullptr;
 
     //! Returns true if clear button should be shown
     bool shouldShowClear() const;
-
-    QRect clearRect() const;
-    QRect searchRect() const;
-    QRect busySpinnerRect() const;
 };
 
 /// @cond PRIVATE