diff -u b/core/modules/filter/src/Plugin/migrate/process/FilterID.php b/core/modules/filter/src/Plugin/migrate/process/FilterID.php
--- b/core/modules/filter/src/Plugin/migrate/process/FilterID.php
+++ b/core/modules/filter/src/Plugin/migrate/process/FilterID.php
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 use Drupal\Core\Plugin\ContainerFactoryPluginInterface;
 use Drupal\migrate\MigrateExecutableInterface;
 use Drupal\migrate\Plugin\migrate\process\StaticMap;
+use Drupal\migrate\Plugin\MigrationInterface;
 use Drupal\migrate\Row;
 use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
 
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@
   /**
    * The filter plugin manager.
    *
-   * @var \Drupal\Component\Plugin\PluginManagerInterface
+   * @var \Drupal\Component\Plugin\PluginManagerInterface|\Drupal\Component\Plugin\FallbackPluginManagerInterface
    */
   protected $filterManager;
 
@@ -58,14 +59,23 @@
   public function transform($value, MigrateExecutableInterface $migrate_executable, Row $row, $destination_property) {
     $plugin_id = parent::transform($value, $migrate_executable, $row, $destination_property);
 
-    // Try to create an instance of the filter to ensure that it actually
-    // exists. If it doesn't, the filter manager will create an instance of
-    // its fallback plugin, filter_null, whose constructor will set a helpful
-    // error message like "Unknown filter [original filter ID]". We'll let the
-    // invalid value pass through anyway, since the filter system will always
-    // fall back to filter_null and the user can deal with it later.
-    $this->filterManager->createInstance($plugin_id);
-    return $plugin_id;
+    if ($this->filterManager->hasDefinition($plugin_id)) {
+      return $plugin_id;
+    }
+    else {
+      $fallback = $this->filterManager->getFallbackPluginId($plugin_id);
+
+      if (is_array($value)) {
+        $value = implode(', ', $value);
+      }
+      $message = $this->t('Filter @id could not be mapped to an existing filter plugin; defaulting to @fallback.', [
+        '@id' => $value,
+        '@fallback' => $fallback,
+      ]);
+      $migrate_executable->saveMessage($message, MigrationInterface::MESSAGE_WARNING);
+
+      return $fallback;
+    }
   }
 
 }