diff --git a/src/components/sectionList/ColumnHeaderSortable.tsx b/src/components/sectionList/ColumnHeaderSortable.tsx
index f55f68e3..d5113808 100644
--- a/src/components/sectionList/ColumnHeaderSortable.tsx
+++ b/src/components/sectionList/ColumnHeaderSortable.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-import { DataTableColumnHeader, DataTableColumnHeaderProps } from '@dhis2/ui'
+import {
+    DataTableColumnHeader,
+    DataTableColumnHeaderProps,
+    DataTableSortDirection,
+} from '@dhis2/ui'
 import React, { useCallback } from 'react'
 import {
     SchemaSection,
@@ -37,11 +41,11 @@ export const HeaderColumnsSortable = ({
         [setSortOrder]
     )
 
-    const getDataTableSortDirection = (column: SelectedColumn) => {
-        const allowSort =
-            column && isValidSortPathForSchema(schema, column.path)
+    const isSortAllowed = (column: SelectedColumn) =>
+        column && isValidSortPathForSchema(schema, column.path)
 
-        if (!allowSort) {
+    const getDataTableSortDirection = (column: SelectedColumn) => {
+        if (!isSortAllowed(column)) {
             return undefined
         }
         if (!sortOrder) {
@@ -57,7 +61,11 @@ export const HeaderColumnsSortable = ({
             {headerColumns.map((headerColumn) => (
                 <DataTableColumnHeader
                     sortDirection={getDataTableSortDirection(headerColumn)}
-                    onSortIconClick={handleSortOrderChange}
+                    onSortIconClick={
+                        isSortAllowed(headerColumn)
+                            ? handleSortOrderChange
+                            : undefined
+                    }
                     key={headerColumn.path}
                     name={headerColumn.path}
                 >
diff --git a/src/lib/sectionList/useSectionListSortOrder.ts b/src/lib/sectionList/useSectionListSortOrder.ts
index ea114dfe..17bdd252 100644
--- a/src/lib/sectionList/useSectionListSortOrder.ts
+++ b/src/lib/sectionList/useSectionListSortOrder.ts
@@ -78,5 +78,5 @@ export const useSectionListSortOrder = () => {
 export const useSortOrderQueryParams = () => {
     const [sortOrder] = useSectionListSortOrder()
 
-    return sortOrder ? formatSortOrderToString(sortOrder) : undefined
+    return sortOrder ? `${sortOrder[0]}:i${sortOrder[1]}` : undefined
 }
diff --git a/src/pages/DefaultSectionList.tsx b/src/pages/DefaultSectionList.tsx
index da8a8b49..d61e3ec8 100644
--- a/src/pages/DefaultSectionList.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/DefaultSectionList.tsx
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ export const DefaultSectionList = ({ filters }: DefaultSectionListProps) => {
             },
         },
     }
+
     const { error, data, refetch } = useQuery({
         queryKey: [query],
         queryFn: ({ queryKey: [query], signal }) => {