diff --git a/src/virtual-machine.js b/src/virtual-machine.js
index dea8d65fd1..dde2e3f662 100644
--- a/src/virtual-machine.js
+++ b/src/virtual-machine.js
@@ -497,8 +497,6 @@ class VirtualMachine extends EventEmitter {
      * @returns {JSZip} JSZip zip object representing the sb3.
      */
     _saveProjectZip () {
-        const soundDescs = serializeSounds(this.runtime);
-        const costumeDescs = serializeCostumes(this.runtime);
         const projectJson = this.toJSON();
 
         // TODO want to eventually move zip creation out of here, and perhaps
@@ -507,7 +505,7 @@ class VirtualMachine extends EventEmitter {
 
         // Put everything in a zip file
         zip.file('project.json', projectJson);
-        this._addFileDescsToZip(costumeDescs.concat(soundDescs), zip);
+        this._addFileDescsToZip(this.serializeAssets(), zip);
 
         return zip;
     }
@@ -544,14 +542,12 @@ class VirtualMachine extends EventEmitter {
      * @returns {Record<string, Uint8Array>} Map of file name to the raw data for that file.
      */
     saveProjectSb3DontZip () {
-        const soundDescs = serializeSounds(this.runtime);
-        const costumeDescs = serializeCostumes(this.runtime);
         const projectJson = this.toJSON();
 
         const files = {
             'project.json': new _TextEncoder().encode(projectJson)
         };
-        for (const fileDesc of costumeDescs.concat(soundDescs)) {
+        for (const fileDesc of this.serializeAssets()) {
             files[fileDesc.fileName] = fileDesc.fileContent;
         }
 
@@ -569,6 +565,16 @@ class VirtualMachine extends EventEmitter {
         ), []);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @param {string} targetId Optional ID of target to export
+     * @returns {Array<{fileName: string; fileContent: Uint8Array;}} list of file descs
+     */
+    serializeAssets (targetId) {
+        const costumeDescs = serializeCostumes(this.runtime, targetId);
+        const soundDescs = serializeSounds(this.runtime, targetId);
+        return costumeDescs.concat(soundDescs);
+    }
+
     _addFileDescsToZip (fileDescs, zip) {
         // TODO: sort files, smallest first
         for (let i = 0; i < fileDescs.length; i++) {
@@ -590,13 +596,11 @@ class VirtualMachine extends EventEmitter {
      * specified by optZipType or blob by default.
      */
     exportSprite (targetId, optZipType) {
-        const soundDescs = serializeSounds(this.runtime, targetId);
-        const costumeDescs = serializeCostumes(this.runtime, targetId);
         const spriteJson = this.toJSON(targetId);
 
         const zip = new JSZip();
         zip.file('sprite.json', spriteJson);
-        this._addFileDescsToZip(costumeDescs.concat(soundDescs), zip);
+        this._addFileDescsToZip(this.serializeAssets(targetId), zip);
 
         return zip.generateAsync({
             type: typeof optZipType === 'string' ? optZipType : 'blob',
diff --git a/test/integration/tw_serialize_asset_order.js b/test/integration/tw_serialize_asset_order.js
index f8d9a3bb06..0ecbe1e22b 100644
--- a/test/integration/tw_serialize_asset_order.js
+++ b/test/integration/tw_serialize_asset_order.js
@@ -7,6 +7,25 @@ const makeTestStorage = require('../fixtures/make-test-storage');
 
 const fixture = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '..', 'fixtures', 'tw-serialize-asset-order.sb3'));
 
+test('serializeAssets serialization order', t => {
+    t.plan(15);
+    const vm = new VM();
+    vm.attachStorage(makeTestStorage());
+    vm.loadProject(fixture).then(() => {
+        const assets = vm.serializeAssets();
+        for (let i = 0; i < assets.length; i++) {
+            // won't deduplicate assets, so expecting 8 costumes, 7 sounds
+            // 8 costumes, 6 sounds
+            if (i < 8) {
+                t.ok(assets[i].fileName.endsWith('.svg'), `file ${i + 1} is costume`);
+            } else {
+                t.ok(assets[i].fileName.endsWith('.wav'), `file ${i + 1} is sound`);
+            }
+        }
+        t.end();
+    });
+});
+
 test('saveProjectSb3 serialization order', t => {
     t.plan(13);
     const vm = new VM();