diff --git a/src/qtgui/guiutils.cpp b/src/qtgui/guiutils.cpp
index 17dae927..0e6a6ed9 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/guiutils.cpp
+++ b/src/qtgui/guiutils.cpp
@@ -146,12 +146,21 @@ void rwSettings(bool writing)
 	       "english");
     SETTING_RW(prefs.useDesktopOpen, 
 	       "/Recoll/prefs/useDesktopOpen", Bool, true);
+
     SETTING_RW(prefs.keepSort, 
 	       "/Recoll/prefs/keepSort", Bool, false);
+    SETTING_RW(prefs.sortField, "/Recoll/prefs/sortField", String, "");
     SETTING_RW(prefs.sortActive, 
 	       "/Recoll/prefs/sortActive", Bool, false);
     SETTING_RW(prefs.sortDesc, 
 	       "/Recoll/prefs/query/sortDesc", Bool, 0);
+    if (!writing) {
+	// Handle transition from older prefs which did not store sortColumn
+	// (Active always meant sort by date).
+	if (prefs.sortActive && prefs.sortField.isNull())
+	    prefs.sortField = "mtime";
+    }
+
     SETTING_RW(prefs.queryBuildAbstract, 
 	       "/Recoll/prefs/query/buildAbstract", Bool, true);
     SETTING_RW(prefs.queryReplaceAbstract, 
diff --git a/src/qtgui/guiutils.h b/src/qtgui/guiutils.h
index 6edec1a7..fc9f73cf 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/guiutils.h
+++ b/src/qtgui/guiutils.h
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ class PrefsPack {
     bool useDesktopOpen; 
     // Remember sort state between invocations ?
     bool keepSort;   
+    QString sortField;
     bool sortActive; 
     bool sortDesc; 
     // Abstract preferences. Building abstracts can slow result display
diff --git a/src/qtgui/rclmain_w.cpp b/src/qtgui/rclmain_w.cpp
index 0e7ce17d..9f33882d 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/rclmain_w.cpp
+++ b/src/qtgui/rclmain_w.cpp
@@ -260,8 +260,8 @@ void RclMain::init()
     connect(this, SIGNAL(sortDataChanged(DocSeqSortSpec)), 
 	    restable, SLOT(onSortDataChanged(DocSeqSortSpec)));
 
-    connect(restable->getModel(), SIGNAL(sortColumnChanged(DocSeqSortSpec)),
-	    this, SLOT(onResTableSortBy(DocSeqSortSpec)));
+    connect(restable->getModel(), SIGNAL(sortDataChanged(DocSeqSortSpec)),
+	    this, SLOT(onSortDataChanged(DocSeqSortSpec)));
     connect(restable, SIGNAL(docEditClicked(Rcl::Doc)), 
 	    this, SLOT(startNativeViewer(Rcl::Doc)));
     connect(restable, SIGNAL(docPreviewClicked(int, Rcl::Doc, int)), 
@@ -320,11 +320,10 @@ void RclMain::init()
 	    this, SLOT(showQueryDetails()));
 
     if (prefs.keepSort && prefs.sortActive) {
-	if (prefs.sortDesc) 
-	    actionSortByDateDesc->setChecked(true);
-	else
-	    actionSortByDateAsc->setChecked(true);
-	onSortCtlChanged();
+	m_sortspec.field = (const char *)prefs.sortField.toUtf8();
+	m_sortspec.desc = prefs.sortDesc;
+	onSortDataChanged(m_sortspec);
+	emit sortDataChanged(m_sortspec);
     }
 
     // Start timer on a slow period (used for checking ^C). Will be
@@ -915,23 +914,26 @@ void RclMain::onSortCtlChanged()
 	m_sortspec.desc = false;
 	prefs.sortActive = true;
 	prefs.sortDesc = false;
+	prefs.sortField = "mtime";
     } else if (actionSortByDateDesc->isChecked()) {
 	m_sortspec.field = "mtime";
 	m_sortspec.desc = true;
 	prefs.sortActive = true;
 	prefs.sortDesc = true;
+	prefs.sortField = "mtime";
     } else {
 	prefs.sortActive = prefs.sortDesc = false;
+	prefs.sortField = "";
     }
-    LOGDEB(("RclMain::onCtlDataChanged(): emitting change signals\n"));
     if (m_source.isNotNull())
 	m_source->setSortSpec(m_sortspec);
     emit sortDataChanged(m_sortspec);
     emit applyFiltSortData();
 }
 
-void RclMain::onResTableSortBy(DocSeqSortSpec spec)
+void RclMain::onSortDataChanged(DocSeqSortSpec spec)
 {
+    LOGDEB(("RclMain::onSortDataChanged\n"));
     m_sortspecnochange = true;
     if (spec.field.compare("mtime")) {
 	actionSortByDateDesc->setChecked(false);
@@ -944,6 +946,11 @@ void RclMain::onResTableSortBy(DocSeqSortSpec spec)
     if (m_source.isNotNull())
 	m_source->setSortSpec(spec);
     m_sortspec = spec;
+
+    prefs.sortField = QString::fromUtf8(spec.field.c_str());
+    prefs.sortDesc = spec.desc;
+    prefs.sortActive = !spec.field.empty();
+
     emit applyFiltSortData();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/qtgui/rclmain_w.h b/src/qtgui/rclmain_w.h
index 6e5fd69c..3f0f9267 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/rclmain_w.h
+++ b/src/qtgui/rclmain_w.h
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ public slots:
     virtual void on_actionSortByDateAsc_toggled(bool on);
     virtual void on_actionSortByDateDesc_toggled(bool on);
     virtual void on_actionShowResultsAsTable_toggled(bool on);
-    virtual void onResTableSortBy(DocSeqSortSpec);
+    virtual void onSortDataChanged(DocSeqSortSpec);
     virtual void resultCount(int);
     virtual void showQueryDetails();
     virtual void onResultsChanged();
diff --git a/src/qtgui/restable.cpp b/src/qtgui/restable.cpp
index 3f20aaea..05422608 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/restable.cpp
+++ b/src/qtgui/restable.cpp
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ void RecollModel::sort(int column, Qt::SortOrder order)
 	    spec.field = "mtime";
 	spec.desc = order == Qt::AscendingOrder ? false : true;
     } 
-    emit sortColumnChanged(spec);
+    emit sortDataChanged(spec);
 }
 
 /////////////////////////// 
diff --git a/src/qtgui/restable.h b/src/qtgui/restable.h
index 16883b96..6805ac7b 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/restable.h
+++ b/src/qtgui/restable.h
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ public:
     friend class ResTable;
 
 signals:
-    void sortColumnChanged(DocSeqSortSpec);
+    void sortDataChanged(DocSeqSortSpec);
 
 private:
     mutable RefCntr<DocSequence> m_source;