diff --git a/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts b/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts
index 91095764..a205647f 100644
--- a/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts
+++ b/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts
@@ -362,6 +362,10 @@ describe("When creating an index", () => {
     for await (const r of tbl.query().where("id > 1").select(["id"])) {
       expect(r.numRows).toBe(298);
     }
+    // should also work with 'filter' alias
+    for await (const r of tbl.query().filter("id > 1").select(["id"])) {
+      expect(r.numRows).toBe(298);
+    }
   });
 
   // TODO: Move this test to the query API test (making sure we can reject queries
diff --git a/nodejs/lancedb/query.ts b/nodejs/lancedb/query.ts
index 13604e7c..ec00d6e4 100644
--- a/nodejs/lancedb/query.ts
+++ b/nodejs/lancedb/query.ts
@@ -114,6 +114,14 @@ export class QueryBase<
     this.inner.onlyIf(predicate);
     return this as unknown as QueryType;
   }
+  /**
+   * A filter statement to be applied to this query.
+   * @alias where
+   * @deprecated Use `where` instead
+   */
+  filter(predicate: string): QueryType {
+    return this.where(predicate);
+  }
 
   /**
    * Return only the specified columns.