diff --git a/datasette/views/table.py b/datasette/views/table.py
index 83f7c7cb..e8c66d3c 100644
--- a/datasette/views/table.py
+++ b/datasette/views/table.py
@@ -588,13 +588,15 @@ class TableView(RowTableShared):
         _next = _next or special_args.get("_next")
         offset = ""
         if _next:
+            sort_value = None
             if is_view:
                 # _next is an offset
                 offset = f" offset {int(_next)}"
             else:
                 components = urlsafe_components(_next)
-                # If a sort order is applied, the first of these is the sort value
-                if sort or sort_desc:
+                # If a sort order is applied and there are multiple components,
+                # the first of these is the sort value
+                if (sort or sort_desc) and (len(components) > 1):
                     sort_value = components[0]
                     # Special case for if non-urlencoded first token was $null
                     if _next.split(",")[0] == "$null":
diff --git a/tests/test_html.py b/tests/test_html.py
index e73ccd2f..c22d87da 100644
--- a/tests/test_html.py
+++ b/tests/test_html.py
@@ -1817,3 +1817,9 @@ def test_facet_total_shown_if_facet_max_size(use_facet_size_max):
             assert fragment in response.text
         else:
             assert fragment not in response.text
+
+
+def test_sort_rowid_with_next(app_client):
+    # https://github.com/simonw/datasette/issues/1470
+    response = app_client.get("/fixtures/binary_data?_size=1&_next=1&_sort=rowid")
+    assert response.status == 200