diff --git a/django/core/jinja_config.py b/django/core/jinja_config.py
index 9c87d20bd..3af072f37 100644
--- a/django/core/jinja_config.py
+++ b/django/core/jinja_config.py
@@ -131,10 +131,7 @@ def generate_search_form_inputs(query_params):
     Returns:
         list: A list of tuples representing the hidden input fields.
     """
-    # set default ordering to relevance, if it is not specified
-    search_parameters = {
-        "ordering": "relevance",
-    }
+    search_parameters = {}
     if query_params:
         # parse_qsl handles splitting and unquoting key-value pairs and generates a list of tuples
         # do not include the actual query in the query parameters
diff --git a/django/library/views.py b/django/library/views.py
index 6b84c4477..8d43942f0 100644
--- a/django/library/views.py
+++ b/django/library/views.py
@@ -399,12 +399,13 @@ def filter_queryset(self, request, queryset, view):
             criteria.update(id__in=codebases.values_list("id", flat=True))
             # or we could include the PL in the query
             # qs += " ".join(programming_languages)
+
+        default_ordering = "-first_published_at"
         if ordering:
-            criteria.update(ordering=ordering)
+            criteria.update(ordering=ordering if qs else default_ordering)
         else:
-            if qs:
-                # set default ordering for search when ordering is not specified
-                criteria.update(ordering="relevance")
+            # set default ordering for search when ordering is not specified
+            criteria.update(ordering="relevance" if qs else default_ordering)
 
         return get_search_queryset(qs, queryset, tags=tags, criteria=criteria)
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/apps/codebase_list.ts b/frontend/src/apps/codebase_list.ts
index 4d295df91..dda2779d3 100644
--- a/frontend/src/apps/codebase_list.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/apps/codebase_list.ts
@@ -8,11 +8,19 @@ import { extractDataParams } from "@/util";
 const props = extractDataParams("sidebar", ["languageFacets"]);
 createApp(CodebaseListSidebar, props).mount("#sidebar");
 
-createApp(SortBy, {
-  sortOptions: [
-    { value: "relevance", label: "Relevance" },
-    { value: "-first_published_at", label: "Publish date: newest" },
-    { value: "first_published_at", label: "Publish date: oldest" },
-    { value: "-last_modified", label: "Recently Modified" },
-  ],
-}).mount("#sortby");
+// Function to check if 'query' exists and is not empty
+function hasQueryParam(param: string) {
+  const params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
+  const value = params.get(param);
+  return value !== null && value.trim() !== "";
+}
+
+// Conditionally include the 'relevance' sorting option
+const sortOptions = [
+  ...(hasQueryParam("query") ? [{ value: "relevance", label: "Relevance" }] : []),
+  { value: "-first_published_at", label: "Publish date: newest" },
+  { value: "first_published_at", label: "Publish date: oldest" },
+  { value: "-last_modified", label: "Recently Modified" },
+];
+
+createApp(SortBy, { sortOptions }).mount("#sortby");
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/CodebaseListSidebar.vue b/frontend/src/components/CodebaseListSidebar.vue
index 4e8a82e9f..9551966be 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/CodebaseListSidebar.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/CodebaseListSidebar.vue
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ const initialFilterValues = {
 onMounted(() => {
   if (props.languageFacets) {
     const localLanguageFacets = { ...props.languageFacets };
-    console.log(localLanguageFacets);
+    // console.log(localLanguageFacets);
     parsedLanguageFacets = Object.entries(localLanguageFacets)
       .sort(([, valueA], [, valueB]) => valueB - valueA) // Sort by value in descending order
       .map(([name, value]) => ({ value: name, label: `${name} (${value})` }));