diff --git a/bundles/org.eclipse.ui.workbench/eclipseui/org/eclipse/ui/internal/dialogs/FilteredPreferenceDialog.java b/bundles/org.eclipse.ui.workbench/eclipseui/org/eclipse/ui/internal/dialogs/FilteredPreferenceDialog.java
index 6e3b7e15fa9..c401b4625b2 100644
--- a/bundles/org.eclipse.ui.workbench/eclipseui/org/eclipse/ui/internal/dialogs/FilteredPreferenceDialog.java
+++ b/bundles/org.eclipse.ui.workbench/eclipseui/org/eclipse/ui/internal/dialogs/FilteredPreferenceDialog.java
@@ -308,6 +308,11 @@ protected Control createTreeAreaContents(Composite parent) {
 	public void showOnly(String[] filteredIds) {
 		if (!hasAtMostOnePage()) {
 			filteredTree.addFilter(new PreferenceNodeFilter(filteredIds));
+
+			// expand the tree to level 2 if there is only one parent node
+			if (getTreeViewer().getTree().getItems().length == 1) {
+				getTreeViewer().expandToLevel(2);
+			}
 		}
 	}