diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index a88ee430..057751e4 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ convention = "google"
     "D", # https://docs.astral.sh/ruff/rules/#pydocstyle-d
     "ANN201", # https://docs.astral.sh/ruff/rules/missing-return-type-undocumented-public-function/
     "SLF001", # https://docs.astral.sh/ruff/rules/private-member-access/
+    "TRY003", # https://docs.astral.sh/ruff/rules/raise-vanilla-args/
 ]
 "*/migrations/*" = [
     "D" # https://docs.astral.sh/ruff/rules/#pydocstyle-d
diff --git a/src/albums/managers.py b/src/albums/managers.py
index 2280086d..14f85bbf 100644
--- a/src/albums/managers.py
+++ b/src/albums/managers.py
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ def get_queryset(self):  # type: ignore[no-untyped-def]  # noqa: ANN201
             .prefetch_related("hits")
             .annotate(hitcount=Count("hits", distinct=True))
             .prefetch_active_files_list(recursive=True)
-        )
+            # ordering from Album META gets lost for some reason :(
+        ).order_by("created_at")
 
 
 class AlbumQuerySet(models.QuerySet):  # type: ignore[type-arg]
diff --git a/src/albums/tests.py b/src/albums/tests.py
index 3e98d347..c6e379ae 100644
--- a/src/albums/tests.py
+++ b/src/albums/tests.py
@@ -112,6 +112,15 @@ def test_album_list_api(self) -> None:
         assert response.status_code == 200
         assert len(response.json()["bma_response"]) == 10, "Did not get 10 albums"
 
+        # make sure albums are sorted as expected
+        latest = None
+        for album in response.json()["bma_response"]:
+            if not latest:
+                latest = album["created_at"]
+            if latest > album["created_at"]:
+                raise AssertionError(f"Albums are sorted wrong! {latest} > {album['created_at']}")
+            latest = album["created_at"]
+
         # test the file filter with files in different albums
         response = self.client.get(
             reverse("api-v1-json:album_list"),
diff --git a/src/files/managers.py b/src/files/managers.py
index f1fc5d13..07aad5ae 100644
--- a/src/files/managers.py
+++ b/src/files/managers.py
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ def get_queryset(self) -> models.QuerySet["BaseFile"]:
             .prefetch_related("thumbnails")
             .prefetch_related(models.Prefetch("thumbnails", to_attr="thumbnail_list"))
             .prefetch_related(models.Prefetch("image_versions", to_attr="image_version_list"))
-        )
+            # ordering by BaseFile Meta gets lost :(
+        ).order_by("created_at")
 
 
 class BaseFileQuerySet(PolymorphicQuerySet):
diff --git a/src/files/tests.py b/src/files/tests.py
index ba7ad9d7..355999cd 100644
--- a/src/files/tests.py
+++ b/src/files/tests.py
@@ -494,6 +494,19 @@ def test_file_list_permissions(self) -> None:
         assert response.status_code == 200
         assert len(response.json()["bma_response"]) == 0
 
+    def test_file_list_ordering(self) -> None:
+        """Make sure files are ordered by date with the oldest file first."""
+        # upload 15 files and get them all
+        [self.file_upload(title=f"title{i}") for i in range(15)]
+        response = self.client.get(reverse("api-v1-json:file_list"), headers={"authorization": self.superuser.auth})
+        latest = None
+        for f in response.json()["bma_response"]:
+            if not latest:
+                latest = f["created_at"]
+            if latest > f["created_at"]:
+                raise AssertionError(f"Files are sorted wrong! {latest} > {f['created_at']}")
+            latest = f["created_at"]
+
     def test_metadata_get(self) -> None:
         """Get file metadata from the API."""
         self.file_upload()