diff --git a/lib/jsonapi/relationship_builder.rb b/lib/jsonapi/relationship_builder.rb
index 9c7364d2f..0b7dec5db 100644
--- a/lib/jsonapi/relationship_builder.rb
+++ b/lib/jsonapi/relationship_builder.rb
@@ -66,10 +66,8 @@ def define_resource_relationship_accessor(type, relationship_name)
         end
 
         sort_criteria =  options.fetch(:sort_criteria, {})
-        unless sort_criteria.nil? || sort_criteria.empty?
-          order_options = relationship.resource_klass.construct_order_options(sort_criteria)
-          records = resource_klass.apply_sort(records, order_options, @context)
-        end
+        order_options = relationship.resource_klass.construct_order_options(sort_criteria)
+        records = resource_klass.apply_sort(records, order_options, @context)
 
         paginator = options[:paginator]
         if paginator
diff --git a/test/controllers/controller_test.rb b/test/controllers/controller_test.rb
index 7bdf19c2d..0e7f7ed42 100644
--- a/test/controllers/controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/controllers/controller_test.rb
@@ -1898,6 +1898,24 @@ def test_show_to_one_relationship_nil
                          }
                        }
   end
+
+  def test_get_related_resources_sorted
+    assert_cacheable_get :get_related_resources, params: {person_id: '1', relationship: 'posts', source:'people', sort: 'title' }
+    assert_response :success
+    assert_equal 'JR How To', json_response['data'][0]['attributes']['title']
+    assert_equal 'New post', json_response['data'][2]['attributes']['title']
+    assert_cacheable_get :get_related_resources, params: {person_id: '1', relationship: 'posts', source:'people', sort: '-title' }
+    assert_response :success
+    assert_equal 'New post', json_response['data'][0]['attributes']['title']
+    assert_equal 'JR How To', json_response['data'][2]['attributes']['title']
+  end
+
+  def test_get_related_resources_default_sorted
+    assert_cacheable_get :get_related_resources, params: {person_id: '1', relationship: 'posts', source:'people'}
+    assert_response :success
+    assert_equal 'New post', json_response['data'][0]['attributes']['title']
+    assert_equal 'JR How To', json_response['data'][2]['attributes']['title']
+  end
 end
 
 class TagsControllerTest < ActionController::TestCase
diff --git a/test/fixtures/active_record.rb b/test/fixtures/active_record.rb
index b5c11d72d..da68b5fe4 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/active_record.rb
+++ b/test/fixtures/active_record.rb
@@ -1050,6 +1050,10 @@ class PostResource < JSONAPI::Resource
   # Not needed - just for testing
   primary_key :id
 
+  def self.default_sort
+    [{field: 'title', direction: :desc}, {field: 'id', direction: :desc}]
+  end
+
   before_save do
     msg = "Before save"
   end
diff --git a/test/integration/requests/request_test.rb b/test/integration/requests/request_test.rb
index 31821f8fd..8a27de962 100644
--- a/test/integration/requests/request_test.rb
+++ b/test/integration/requests/request_test.rb
@@ -606,16 +606,16 @@ def test_pagination_empty_results
 
 
   def test_flow_self
-    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get '/posts'
-    post_1 = json_response['data'][0]
+    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get '/posts/1'
+    post_1 = json_response['data']
 
     assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get post_1['links']['self']
     assert_hash_equals post_1, json_response['data']
   end
 
   def test_flow_link_to_one_self_link
-    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get '/posts'
-    post_1 = json_response['data'][0]
+    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get '/posts/1'
+    post_1 = json_response['data']
 
     assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get post_1['relationships']['author']['links']['self']
     assert_hash_equals(json_response, {
@@ -628,8 +628,8 @@ def test_flow_link_to_one_self_link
   end
 
   def test_flow_link_to_many_self_link
-    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get '/posts'
-    post_1 = json_response['data'][0]
+    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get '/posts/1'
+    post_1 = json_response['data']
 
     assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get post_1['relationships']['tags']['links']['self']
     assert_hash_equals(json_response,
@@ -647,10 +647,10 @@ def test_flow_link_to_many_self_link
   end
 
   def test_flow_link_to_many_self_link_put
-    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get '/posts'
-    post_1 = json_response['data'][4]
+    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get '/posts/5'
+    post_5 = json_response['data']
 
-    post post_1['relationships']['tags']['links']['self'], params:
+    post post_5['relationships']['tags']['links']['self'], params:
          {'data' => [{'type' => 'tags', 'id' => '10'}]}.to_json,
          headers: {
            'CONTENT_TYPE' => JSONAPI::MEDIA_TYPE,
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ def test_flow_link_to_many_self_link_put
 
     assert_equal 204, status
 
-    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get post_1['relationships']['tags']['links']['self']
+    assert_cacheable_jsonapi_get post_5['relationships']['tags']['links']['self']
     assert_hash_equals(json_response,
                        {
                          'links' => {