diff --git a/opengrok-indexer/src/main/java/org/opengrok/indexer/web/SortOrder.java b/opengrok-indexer/src/main/java/org/opengrok/indexer/web/SortOrder.java
index 806175341b1..4cd13e67065 100644
--- a/opengrok-indexer/src/main/java/org/opengrok/indexer/web/SortOrder.java
+++ b/opengrok-indexer/src/main/java/org/opengrok/indexer/web/SortOrder.java
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2011, Jens Elkner.
- * Copyright (c) 2011, 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2011, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  */
 package org.opengrok.indexer.web;
 
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ public enum SortOrder {
     RELEVANCY("relevancy", "relevance"),
     /** sort by path. */
     BY_PATH("fullpath", "path");
+
     private final String name;
     private final String desc;
 
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ public enum SortOrder {
      * @see #toString()
      */
     public static SortOrder get(String name) {
-        if (name == null || name.length() == 0) {
+        if (name == null || name.isEmpty()) {
             return null;
         }
         for (SortOrder s : values()) {
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ public String toString() {
     }
 
     /**
-     * A more user friendly description (UI name) of the sort order.
+     * A more user-friendly description (UI name) of the sort order.
      * @return a very short description.
      */
     public String getDesc() {
diff --git a/opengrok-web/src/main/java/org/opengrok/web/PageConfig.java b/opengrok-web/src/main/java/org/opengrok/web/PageConfig.java
index f527e95ee1a..b1543cad7c2 100644
--- a/opengrok-web/src/main/java/org/opengrok/web/PageConfig.java
+++ b/opengrok-web/src/main/java/org/opengrok/web/PageConfig.java
@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@ public class PageConfig {
 
     private static final String HISTORY_JSP_ATTR_NAME = "history.jsp-hist";
 
+    @VisibleForTesting
+    static final String SORTING_COOKIE_NAME = "OpenGrokSorting";
+
     // query parameters
     static final String PROJECT_PARAM_NAME = "project";
     static final String GROUP_PARAM_NAME = "group";
@@ -627,7 +630,7 @@ public List<SortOrder> getSortOrder() {
             }
         }
         if (sort.isEmpty()) {
-            vals = getCookieVals("OpenGrokSorting");
+            vals = getCookieVals(SORTING_COOKIE_NAME);
             for (String s : vals) {
                 SortOrder so = SortOrder.get(s);
                 if (so != null) {
diff --git a/opengrok-web/src/test/java/org/opengrok/web/PageConfigTest.java b/opengrok-web/src/test/java/org/opengrok/web/PageConfigTest.java
index bc31529a3c6..6d7ace258b6 100644
--- a/opengrok-web/src/test/java/org/opengrok/web/PageConfigTest.java
+++ b/opengrok-web/src/test/java/org/opengrok/web/PageConfigTest.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
+import jakarta.servlet.http.Cookie;
 import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 import jakarta.ws.rs.core.HttpHeaders;
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@
 import org.opengrok.indexer.util.TestRepository;
 import org.opengrok.indexer.web.DummyHttpServletRequest;
 import org.opengrok.indexer.web.QueryParameters;
+import org.opengrok.indexer.web.SortOrder;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
@@ -816,7 +818,7 @@ public String getParameter(String name) {
             @Override
             public String[] getParameterValues(String name) {
                 if (name.equals(QueryBuilder.PROJECT)) {
-                    return List.of("<project1>").toArray(new String[0]);
+                    return new String[]{"<project1>", "project2"};
                 }
 
                 return null;
@@ -827,8 +829,49 @@ public String[] getParameterValues(String name) {
         assertEquals("&lt;foo bar&gt; (full), &lt;symbol1&gt; (definition), " +
                      "&lt;symbol2&gt; (reference), &lt;path1&gt; (path), " +
                      "&lt;c6f8b2553cb6bf280acb986b741792d55373de4e&gt; (history) " +
-                     "in projects: &lt;project1&gt;" +
+                     "in projects: &lt;project1&gt;,project2" +
                      " - OpenGrok search results",
                 cfg.getSearchTitle());
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void testGetSortOrderParameter() {
+        HttpServletRequest req = new DummyHttpServletRequest() {
+            @Override
+            public String getPathInfo() {
+                return "path";
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public String[] getParameterValues(String name) {
+                if (name.equals(QueryParameters.SORT_PARAM)) {
+                    return new String[]{SortOrder.LASTMODIFIED.toString(), "invalid"};
+                }
+
+                return null;
+            }
+        };
+
+        PageConfig cfg = PageConfig.get(req);
+        assertEquals(List.of(SortOrder.LASTMODIFIED), cfg.getSortOrder());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testGetSortOrderCookie() {
+        HttpServletRequest req = new DummyHttpServletRequest() {
+            @Override
+            public String getPathInfo() {
+                return "path";
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public Cookie[] getCookies() {
+                return new Cookie[]{new Cookie(PageConfig.SORTING_COOKIE_NAME, SortOrder.LASTMODIFIED.toString()),
+                        new Cookie(PageConfig.SORTING_COOKIE_NAME, "invalid")};
+            }
+        };
+
+        PageConfig cfg = PageConfig.get(req);
+        assertEquals(List.of(SortOrder.LASTMODIFIED), cfg.getSortOrder());
+    }
 }