diff --git a/lib/datalib.php b/lib/datalib.php
index 5cb0971dde4..08f14cf238a 100644
--- a/lib/datalib.php
+++ b/lib/datalib.php
@@ -2121,7 +2121,7 @@ function fix_course_sortorder($categoryid=0, $n=0, $safe=0) {
             // if the new sequence overlaps the current sequence, lack of transactions
             // will stop us -- shift things aside for a moment...
             if ($safe || ($n >= $min && $n+$count+1 < $min && $CFG->dbtype==='mysql')) {
-                $shift = $max + 1000;
+                $shift = $max + $n + 1000;
                 execute_sql("UPDATE {$CFG->prefix}course 
                          SET sortorder=sortorder+$shift 
                          WHERE category=$categoryid", 0);