diff --git a/lib/dml/moodle_database.php b/lib/dml/moodle_database.php
index 73653196e85..9818372eaf1 100644
--- a/lib/dml/moodle_database.php
+++ b/lib/dml/moodle_database.php
@@ -2962,6 +2962,8 @@ abstract class moodle_database {
     ): array {
         $fullcountsql = $this->generate_fullcount_sql($sql, $params, $fullcountcolumn);
         if ($sort) {
+            // Remove "ORDER BY" with any extra spaces from $sort.
+            $sort = preg_replace('/\s*ORDER\s+BY\s*/i', '', $sort);
             $fullcountsql .= " ORDER BY " . $sort;
         }
         return $this->get_records_sql($fullcountsql, $params, $limitfrom, $limitnum);
@@ -2993,6 +2995,8 @@ abstract class moodle_database {
     ): moodle_recordset {
         $fullcountsql = $this->generate_fullcount_sql($sql, $params, $fullcountcolumn);
         if ($sort) {
+            // Remove "ORDER BY" with any extra spaces from $sort.
+            $sort = preg_replace('/\s*ORDER\s+BY\s*/i', '', $sort);
             $fullcountsql .= " ORDER BY " . $sort;
         }
         return $this->get_recordset_sql($fullcountsql, $params, $limitfrom, $limitnum);
diff --git a/user/tests/table/participants_search_test.php b/user/tests/table/participants_search_test.php
index 9b0ff9cd864..6750223bb4f 100644
--- a/user/tests/table/participants_search_test.php
+++ b/user/tests/table/participants_search_test.php
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ use stdClass;
  * @category  test
  * @copyright 2020 Andrew Nicols <andrew@nicols.co.uk>
  * @license   http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ *
+ * @covers \core_user\table\participants_search
  */
 final class participants_search_test extends advanced_testcase {
 
@@ -3508,4 +3510,44 @@ final class participants_search_test extends advanced_testcase {
 
         return $finaltests;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Tests sorting of participants in a course.
+     *
+     * This test runs a search for participants twice, first with an "ORDER BY" clause and second without.
+     * The test asserts the correct ordering of participants based on the sorting condition.
+     */
+    public function test_sort_participants(): void {
+        $this->resetAfterTest();
+
+        $course = $this->getDataGenerator()->create_course();
+        $coursecontext = context_course::instance($course->id);
+
+        // Generate users with their role.
+        $this->getDataGenerator()->create_and_enrol($course, 'teacher');
+        $this->getDataGenerator()->create_and_enrol($course, 'student');
+
+        // Create the basic filter.
+        $filterset = new participants_filterset();
+        $filterset->add_filter(new integer_filter('courseid', null, [(int) $course->id]));
+
+        // Run the search with using ORDER BY.
+        $search = new participants_search($course, $coursecontext, $filterset);
+        $rs = $search->get_participants(
+            sort: 'ORDER     BY id', // Adding spaces between "ORDER" and "BY" is intentional.
+        );
+        $records = $this->convert_recordset_to_array($rs);
+        $userids = array_keys($records);
+        $this->assertGreaterThan($userids[0], $userids[1]);
+
+        // Run the search without using ORDER BY.
+        $rs = $search->get_participants(
+            sort: 'id DESC',
+        );
+        $records = $this->convert_recordset_to_array($rs);
+        $userids = array_keys($records);
+        $this->assertGreaterThan($userids[1], $userids[0]);
+
+        $rs->close();
+    }
 }