diff --git a/docs/cli.rst b/docs/cli.rst
index 2d7c638..03676d4 100644
--- a/docs/cli.rst
+++ b/docs/cli.rst
@@ -927,7 +927,7 @@ Use the ``--sql`` option to output the SQL that would be executed, rather than r
     where
         [documents_fts] match :query
     order by
-        rank desc
+        rank
 
 .. _cli_vacuum:
 
diff --git a/sqlite_utils/db.py b/sqlite_utils/db.py
index 9d067d3..8e586d8 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/db.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/db.py
@@ -1370,7 +1370,7 @@ class Table(Queryable):
             rank=rank,
             rank_implementation=rank_implementation,
             fts_table=fts_table,
-            order=order or "{} desc".format(rank),
+            order=order or rank,
             limit="limit {}".format(limit) if limit else "",
         ).strip()
 
diff --git a/tests/test_fts.py b/tests/test_fts.py
index 6f469a2..3c2180e 100644
--- a/tests/test_fts.py
+++ b/tests/test_fts.py
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ def test_enable_fts_replace_does_nothing_if_args_the_same():
                 "where\n"
                 "    [books_fts] match :query\n"
                 "order by\n"
-                "    rank desc"
+                "    rank"
             ),
         ),
         (
diff --git a/tests/test_tracer.py b/tests/test_tracer.py
index dab9afb..318d45e 100644
--- a/tests/test_tracer.py
+++ b/tests/test_tracer.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def test_with_tracer():
         ("select name from sqlite_master where type = 'view'", None),
         ("select sql from sqlite_master where name = ?", ("dogs_fts",)),
         (
-            "with original as (\n    select\n        rowid,\n        *\n    from [dogs]\n)\nselect\n    original.*,\n    [dogs_fts].rank as rank\nfrom\n    [original]\n    join [dogs_fts] on [original].rowid = [dogs_fts].rowid\nwhere\n    [dogs_fts] match :query\norder by\n    rank desc",
+            "with original as (\n    select\n        rowid,\n        *\n    from [dogs]\n)\nselect\n    original.*,\n    [dogs_fts].rank as rank\nfrom\n    [original]\n    join [dogs_fts] on [original].rowid = [dogs_fts].rowid\nwhere\n    [dogs_fts] match :query\norder by\n    rank",
             {"query": "Cleopaws"},
         ),
     ]