diff --git a/src/Compat/CompatController.php b/src/Compat/CompatController.php
index f4c2fb0b..735d0da9 100644
--- a/src/Compat/CompatController.php
+++ b/src/Compat/CompatController.php
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 use ipl\Html\HtmlDocument;
 use ipl\Html\HtmlString;
 use ipl\Html\ValidHtml;
+use ipl\Orm\Common\SortUtil;
 use ipl\Orm\Query;
 use ipl\Stdlib\Contract\Paginatable;
 use ipl\Web\Control\LimitControl;
@@ -294,15 +295,25 @@ public function createSortControl(Query $query, array $columns): SortControl
 
         $this->params->shift($sortControl->getSortParam());
 
-        $sortControl->handleRequest($this->getServerRequest());
-
         $defaultSort = null;
-
         if (func_num_args() === 3) {
             $defaultSort = func_get_args()[2];
         }
 
-        return $sortControl->apply($query, $defaultSort);
+        $default = $defaultSort ?? $query->getModel()->getDefaultSort();
+        if (! empty($default)) {
+            $sortControl->setDefault(SortUtil::normalizeSortSpec($default));
+
+            $columns = $sortControl->getColumns();
+            $default = $sortControl->getDefault();
+            if (! empty($defaultSort) && ! isset($columns[$default])) {
+                throw new InvalidArgumentException(sprintf('Invalid default sort "%s" given', $default));
+            }
+        }
+
+        $sortControl->handleRequest($this->getServerRequest());
+
+        return $sortControl->apply($query);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/Control/SortControl.php b/src/Control/SortControl.php
index 65c2c3d7..6b06c6c4 100644
--- a/src/Control/SortControl.php
+++ b/src/Control/SortControl.php
@@ -197,11 +197,10 @@ public function getSort(): ?string
      * Sort the given query according to the request
      *
      * @param Query $query
-     * @param ?array|string $defaultSort
      *
      * @return $this
      */
-    public function apply(Query $query, $defaultSort = null): self
+    public function apply(Query $query): self
     {
         if ($this->getRequest() === null) {
             // handleRequest() has not been called yet
@@ -209,11 +208,6 @@ public function apply(Query $query, $defaultSort = null): self
             $this->handleRequest(ServerRequest::fromGlobals());
         }
 
-        $default = $defaultSort ?? (array) $query->getModel()->getDefaultSort();
-        if (! empty($default)) {
-            $this->setDefault(SortUtil::normalizeSortSpec($default));
-        }
-
         $sort = $this->getSort();
         if (! empty($sort)) {
             $query->orderBy(SortUtil::createOrderBy($sort));