diff --git a/core/imageboard/image.php b/core/imageboard/image.php
index 64ac27ab..3e239206 100644
--- a/core/imageboard/image.php
+++ b/core/imageboard/image.php
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ class Image
     public const IMAGE_DIR = "images";
     public const THUMBNAIL_DIR = "thumbs";
 
-    public static $order_sql = null; // this feels ugly
-
     /** @var null|int */
     public $id = null;
 
@@ -162,12 +160,9 @@ class Image
             }
         }
 
-        $order = (Image::$order_sql ?: "images.".$config->get_string(IndexConfig::ORDER));
-        $querylet = Image::build_search_querylet($tags, $order, $limit, $start);
+        $querylet = Image::build_search_querylet($tags, $limit, $start);
         $result = $database->get_all_iterable($querylet->sql, $querylet->variables);
 
-        Image::$order_sql = null;
-
         return $result;
     }
 
@@ -284,14 +279,18 @@ class Image
         $tag_conditions = [];
         $img_conditions = [];
         $stpen = 0;  // search term parse event number
+        $order = null;
 
         /*
          * Turn a bunch of strings into a bunch of TagCondition
          * and ImgCondition objects
          */
+        /** @var $stpe SearchTermParseEvent */
         $stpe = send_event(new SearchTermParseEvent($stpen++, null, $terms));
-        if ($stpe->is_querylet_set()) {
-            foreach ($stpe->get_querylets() as $querylet) {
+        if ($stpe->order) {
+            $order = $stpe->order;
+        } elseif ($stpe->querylets) {
+            foreach ($stpe->querylets as $querylet) {
                 $img_conditions[] = new ImgCondition($querylet, true);
             }
         }
@@ -306,9 +305,12 @@ class Image
                 continue;
             }
 
+            /** @var $stpe SearchTermParseEvent */
             $stpe = send_event(new SearchTermParseEvent($stpen++, $term, $terms));
-            if ($stpe->is_querylet_set()) {
-                foreach ($stpe->get_querylets() as $querylet) {
+            if ($stpe->order) {
+                $order = $stpe->order;
+            } elseif ($stpe->querylets) {
+                foreach ($stpe->querylets as $querylet) {
                     $img_conditions[] = new ImgCondition($querylet, $positive);
                 }
             } else {
@@ -318,7 +320,7 @@ class Image
                 }
             }
         }
-        return [$tag_conditions, $img_conditions];
+        return [$tag_conditions, $img_conditions, $order];
     }
 
     /*
@@ -834,12 +836,14 @@ class Image
      * #param string[] $terms
      */
     private static function build_search_querylet(
-        array $tags,
-        ?string $order=null,
+        array $terms,
         ?int $limit=null,
         ?int $offset=null
     ): Querylet {
-        list($tag_conditions, $img_conditions) = self::terms_to_conditions($tags);
+        global $config;
+
+        list($tag_conditions, $img_conditions, $order) = self::terms_to_conditions($terms);
+        $order = ($order ?: "images.".$config->get_string(IndexConfig::ORDER));
 
         $positive_tag_count = 0;
         $negative_tag_count = 0;
diff --git a/ext/index/events.php b/ext/index/events.php
index 40a1f9b6..a4a8585f 100644
--- a/ext/index/events.php
+++ b/ext/index/events.php
@@ -8,12 +8,14 @@ class SearchTermParseEvent extends Event
 {
     /** @var int */
     public $id = 0;
-    /** @var null|string  */
+    /** @var null|string */
     public $term = null;
     /** @var string[] */
     public $context = [];
     /** @var Querylet[] */
     public $querylets = [];
+    /** @var null|string  */
+    public $order = null;
 
     public function __construct(int $id, string $term=null, array $context=[])
     {
@@ -23,16 +25,6 @@ class SearchTermParseEvent extends Event
         $this->context = $context;
     }
 
-    public function is_querylet_set(): bool
-    {
-        return (count($this->querylets) > 0);
-    }
-
-    public function get_querylets(): array
-    {
-        return $this->querylets;
-    }
-
     public function add_querylet(Querylet $q)
     {
         $this->querylets[] = $q;
diff --git a/ext/index/main.php b/ext/index/main.php
index 2c4a5c1b..b0a30c81 100644
--- a/ext/index/main.php
+++ b/ext/index/main.php
@@ -235,21 +235,18 @@ class Index extends Extension
             $ord = strtolower($matches[1]);
             $default_order_for_column = preg_match("/^(id|filename)$/", $matches[1]) ? "ASC" : "DESC";
             $sort = isset($matches[2]) ? strtoupper($matches[2]) : $default_order_for_column;
-            Image::$order_sql = "images.$ord $sort";
-            $event->add_querylet(new Querylet("1=1")); //small hack to avoid metatag being treated as normal tag
+            $event->order = "images.$ord $sort";
         } elseif (preg_match("/^order[=|:]random[_]([0-9]{1,4})$/i", $event->term, $matches)) {
             // requires a seed to avoid duplicates
             // since the tag can't be changed during the parseevent, we instead generate the seed during submit using js
             $seed = $matches[1];
-            Image::$order_sql = "RAND($seed)";
-            $event->add_querylet(new Querylet("1=1")); //small hack to avoid metatag being treated as normal tag
+            $event->order = "RAND($seed)";
         } elseif (preg_match("/^order[=|:]dailyshuffle$/i", $event->term, $matches)) {
             // will use today's date as seed, thus allowing for a dynamic randomized list without outside intervention.
             // This way the list will change every day, giving a more dynamic feel to the imageboard.
             // recommended to change homepage to "post/list/order:dailyshuffle/1"
             $seed = date("Ymd");
-            Image::$order_sql = "RAND($seed)";
-            $event->add_querylet(new Querylet("1=1"));
+            $event->order = "RAND($seed)";
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/ext/numeric_score/main.php b/ext/numeric_score/main.php
index 7811f304..e980fb65 100644
--- a/ext/numeric_score/main.php
+++ b/ext/numeric_score/main.php
@@ -272,8 +272,7 @@ class NumericScore extends Extension
         } elseif (preg_match("/^order[=|:](?:numeric_)?(score)(?:_(desc|asc))?$/i", $event->term, $matches)) {
             $default_order_for_column = "DESC";
             $sort = isset($matches[2]) ? strtoupper($matches[2]) : $default_order_for_column;
-            Image::$order_sql = "images.numeric_score $sort";
-            $event->add_querylet(new Querylet("1=1")); //small hack to avoid metatag being treated as normal tag
+            $event->order = "images.numeric_score $sort";
         }
     }