diff --git a/datasette/views/table.py b/datasette/views/table.py
index 96e8922b..7267c1db 100644
--- a/datasette/views/table.py
+++ b/datasette/views/table.py
@@ -402,8 +402,12 @@ class TableView(RowTableShared):
         )
 
         # Allow for custom sort order
-        sort = special_args.get("_sort") or table_metadata.get("sort")
-        sort_desc = special_args.get("_sort_desc") or table_metadata.get("sort_desc")
+        sort = special_args.get("_sort")
+        sort_desc = special_args.get("_sort_desc")
+
+        if not sort and not sort_desc:
+            sort = table_metadata.get("sort")
+            sort_desc = table_metadata.get("sort_desc")
 
         if sort and sort_desc:
             raise DatasetteError("Cannot use _sort and _sort_desc at the same time")
diff --git a/tests/test_html.py b/tests/test_html.py
index a0216672..d54446c7 100644
--- a/tests/test_html.py
+++ b/tests/test_html.py
@@ -1105,7 +1105,7 @@ def test_metadata_sort(app_client):
     ths = table.findAll("th")
     assert ["id", "name\xa0▼"] == [th.find("a").string.strip() for th in ths]
     rows = [[str(td) for td in tr.select("td")] for tr in table.select("tbody tr")]
-    assert [
+    expected = [
         [
             '<td class="col-id"><a href="/fixtures/facet_cities/3">3</a></td>',
             '<td class="col-name">Detroit</td>',
@@ -1122,7 +1122,14 @@ def test_metadata_sort(app_client):
             '<td class="col-id"><a href="/fixtures/facet_cities/1">1</a></td>',
             '<td class="col-name">San Francisco</td>',
         ],
-    ] == rows
+    ]
+    assert expected == rows
+    # Make sure you can reverse that sort order
+    response = app_client.get("/fixtures/facet_cities?_sort_desc=name")
+    assert response.status == 200
+    table = Soup(response.body, "html.parser").find("table")
+    rows = [[str(td) for td in tr.select("td")] for tr in table.select("tbody tr")]
+    assert list(reversed(expected)) == rows
 
 
 def test_metadata_sort_desc(app_client):
@@ -1133,7 +1140,7 @@ def test_metadata_sort_desc(app_client):
     ths = table.findAll("th")
     assert ["pk\xa0▲", "name"] == [th.find("a").string.strip() for th in ths]
     rows = [[str(td) for td in tr.select("td")] for tr in table.select("tbody tr")]
-    assert [
+    expected = [
         [
             '<td class="col-pk"><a href="/fixtures/attraction_characteristic/2">2</a></td>',
             '<td class="col-name">Paranormal</td>',
@@ -1142,4 +1149,11 @@ def test_metadata_sort_desc(app_client):
             '<td class="col-pk"><a href="/fixtures/attraction_characteristic/1">1</a></td>',
             '<td class="col-name">Museum</td>',
         ],
-    ] == rows
+    ]
+    assert expected == rows
+    # Make sure you can reverse that sort order
+    response = app_client.get("/fixtures/attraction_characteristic?_sort=pk")
+    assert response.status == 200
+    table = Soup(response.body, "html.parser").find("table")
+    rows = [[str(td) for td in tr.select("td")] for tr in table.select("tbody tr")]
+    assert list(reversed(expected)) == rows