diff --git a/routers/web/explore/user.go b/routers/web/explore/user.go
index e349bb1e92..3d4dbcd104 100644
--- a/routers/web/explore/user.go
+++ b/routers/web/explore/user.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	// tplExploreUsers explore users page template
+	// `tplExploreUsers` explore users page template.
 	tplExploreUsers base.TplName = "explore/users"
 )
 
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ func isKeywordValid(keyword string) bool {
 	return !bytes.Contains([]byte(keyword), nullByte)
 }
 
-// RenderUserSearch render user search page
+// `RenderUserSearch` render user search page.
 func RenderUserSearch(ctx *context.Context, opts *user_model.SearchUserOptions, tplName base.TplName) {
-	// Sitemap index for sitemap paths
+	// Sitemap index for sitemap paths.
 	opts.Page = int(ctx.ParamsInt64("idx"))
 	isSitemap := ctx.Params("idx") != ""
 	if opts.Page <= 1 {
@@ -47,42 +47,24 @@ func RenderUserSearch(ctx *context.Context, opts *user_model.SearchUserOptions,
 	}
 
 	var (
-		users   []*user_model.User
-		count   int64
-		err     error
-		orderBy db.SearchOrderBy
+		users []*user_model.User
+		count int64
+		err   error
 	)
 
-	// we can not set orderBy to `models.SearchOrderByXxx`, because there may be a JOIN in the statement, different tables may have the same name columns
-
 	sortOrder := ctx.FormString("sort")
 	if sortOrder == "" {
 		sortOrder = setting.UI.ExploreDefaultSort
 	}
 	ctx.Data["SortType"] = sortOrder
 
-	switch sortOrder {
-	case "newest":
-		orderBy = "`user`.id DESC"
-	case "oldest":
-		orderBy = "`user`.id ASC"
-	case "leastupdate":
-		orderBy = "`user`.updated_unix ASC"
-	case "reversealphabetically":
-		orderBy = "`user`.name DESC"
-	case "lastlogin":
-		orderBy = "`user`.last_login_unix ASC"
-	case "reverselastlogin":
-		orderBy = "`user`.last_login_unix DESC"
-	case "alphabetically":
-		orderBy = "`user`.name ASC"
-	case "recentupdate":
-		fallthrough
-	default:
-		// in case the sortType is not valid, we set it to recentupdate
+	orderBy := MapSortOrder(sortOrder)
+
+	if orderBy == "" {
+		// In case the `sortType` is not valid, we set it to `recentupdate`.
 		sortOrder = "recentupdate"
 		ctx.Data["SortType"] = "recentupdate"
-		orderBy = "`user`.updated_unix DESC"
+		orderBy = MapSortOrder(sortOrder)
 	}
 
 	if opts.SupportedSortOrders != nil && !opts.SupportedSortOrders.Contains(sortOrder) {
@@ -130,7 +112,7 @@ func RenderUserSearch(ctx *context.Context, opts *user_model.SearchUserOptions,
 	ctx.HTML(http.StatusOK, tplName)
 }
 
-// Users render explore users page
+// Users render explore users page.
 func Users(ctx *context.Context) {
 	if setting.Service.Explore.DisableUsersPage {
 		ctx.Redirect(setting.AppSubURL + "/explore")
@@ -169,3 +151,37 @@ func Users(ctx *context.Context) {
 		SupportedSortOrders: supportedSortOrders,
 	}, tplExploreUsers)
 }
+
+// Maps a sort query to a database search order.
+//
+// We cannot use `models.SearchOrderByXxx`, because there may be a JOIN in the statement, different tables may have the same name columns.
+func MapSortOrder(sortOrder string) db.SearchOrderBy {
+	switch sortOrder {
+	case "newest":
+		return "`user`.created_unix DESC"
+
+	case "oldest":
+		return "`user`.created_unix ASC"
+
+	case "leastupdate":
+		return "`user`.updated_unix ASC"
+
+	case "reversealphabetically":
+		return "`user`.name DESC"
+
+	case "lastlogin":
+		return "`user`.last_login_unix ASC"
+
+	case "reverselastlogin":
+		return "`user`.last_login_unix DESC"
+
+	case "alphabetically":
+		return "`user`.name ASC"
+
+	case "recentupdate":
+		return "`user`.updated_unix DESC"
+
+	default:
+		return ""
+	}
+}
diff --git a/routers/web/explore/user_test.go b/routers/web/explore/user_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..04573a149f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/routers/web/explore/user_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Copyright 2025 The Forgejo Authors. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+package explore
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"forgejo.org/models/db"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestMapSortOrder(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, MapSortOrder("newest"), db.SearchOrderBy("`user`.created_unix DESC"))
+	assert.Equal(t, MapSortOrder("oldest"), db.SearchOrderBy("`user`.created_unix ASC"))
+	assert.Equal(t, MapSortOrder("leastupdate"), db.SearchOrderBy("`user`.updated_unix ASC"))
+	assert.Equal(t, MapSortOrder("reversealphabetically"), db.SearchOrderBy("`user`.name DESC"))
+	assert.Equal(t, MapSortOrder("lastlogin"), db.SearchOrderBy("`user`.last_login_unix ASC"))
+	assert.Equal(t, MapSortOrder("reverselastlogin"), db.SearchOrderBy("`user`.last_login_unix DESC"))
+	assert.Equal(t, MapSortOrder("alphabetically"), db.SearchOrderBy("`user`.name ASC"))
+	assert.Equal(t, MapSortOrder("recentupdate"), db.SearchOrderBy("`user`.updated_unix DESC"))
+}