diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index f42c3fe0..d94262d3 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 * Fixed bug where character_types were case sensitive. They are now case insensitive.
 * Updated `xportr_type` to make type coercion more explicit.
 * Added function `xportr_metadata()` to explicitly set metadata at the start of a pipeline (#44)
+* Metadata order columns are now coerced to numeric by default in `xportr_order()` to prevent character sorting (#149)
 
 ## Documentation
 
diff --git a/R/format.R b/R/format.R
index 9c8fd527..bfc6bd40 100644
--- a/R/format.R
+++ b/R/format.R
@@ -28,12 +28,11 @@
 #' )
 #'
 #' adsl <- xportr_format(adsl, metadata)
-xportr_format <- function(
-    .df,
-    metadata = NULL,
-    domain = NULL,
-    verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
-    metacore = deprecated()) {
+xportr_format <- function(.df,
+                          metadata = NULL,
+                          domain = NULL,
+                          verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
+                          metacore = deprecated()) {
   if (!missing(metacore)) {
     lifecycle::deprecate_warn(
       when = "0.3.0",
diff --git a/R/label.R b/R/label.R
index 738a5d50..e627c85c 100644
--- a/R/label.R
+++ b/R/label.R
@@ -30,12 +30,11 @@
 #' )
 #'
 #' adsl <- xportr_label(adsl, metadata)
-xportr_label <- function(
-    .df,
-    metadata = NULL,
-    domain = NULL,
-    verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
-    metacore = deprecated()) {
+xportr_label <- function(.df,
+                         metadata = NULL,
+                         domain = NULL,
+                         verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
+                         metacore = deprecated()) {
   if (!missing(metacore)) {
     lifecycle::deprecate_warn(
       when = "0.3.0",
diff --git a/R/length.R b/R/length.R
index dd6842dd..46f6b26c 100644
--- a/R/length.R
+++ b/R/length.R
@@ -28,12 +28,11 @@
 #' )
 #'
 #' adsl <- xportr_length(adsl, metadata)
-xportr_length <- function(
-    .df,
-    metadata = NULL,
-    domain = NULL,
-    verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
-    metacore = deprecated()) {
+xportr_length <- function(.df,
+                          metadata = NULL,
+                          domain = NULL,
+                          verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
+                          metacore = deprecated()) {
   if (!missing(metacore)) {
     lifecycle::deprecate_warn(
       when = "0.3.0",
diff --git a/R/order.R b/R/order.R
index a49a560f..7ecce6d8 100644
--- a/R/order.R
+++ b/R/order.R
@@ -25,12 +25,11 @@
 #' )
 #'
 #' adsl <- xportr_order(adsl, metadata)
-xportr_order <- function(
-    .df,
-    metadata = NULL,
-    domain = NULL,
-    verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
-    metacore = deprecated()) {
+xportr_order <- function(.df,
+                         metadata = NULL,
+                         domain = NULL,
+                         verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
+                         metacore = deprecated()) {
   if (!missing(metacore)) {
     lifecycle::deprecate_warn(
       when = "0.3.0",
@@ -69,6 +68,7 @@ xportr_order <- function(
 
   # Grabs vars from Spec and inputted dataset
   vars_in_spec_ds <- metadata[, c(variable_name, order_name)] %>%
+    mutate(!!sym(order_name) := as.numeric(!!sym(order_name))) %>%
     arrange(!!sym(order_name)) %>%
     extract2(variable_name)
 
diff --git a/R/type.R b/R/type.R
index bac6bb9b..9c28a06b 100644
--- a/R/type.R
+++ b/R/type.R
@@ -32,12 +32,11 @@
 #' )
 #'
 #' df2 <- xportr_type(.df, metadata, "test")
-xportr_type <- function(
-    .df,
-    metadata = NULL,
-    domain = NULL,
-    verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
-    metacore = deprecated()) {
+xportr_type <- function(.df,
+                        metadata = NULL,
+                        domain = NULL,
+                        verbose = getOption("xportr.length_verbose", "none"),
+                        metacore = deprecated()) {
   if (!missing(metacore)) {
     lifecycle::deprecate_warn(
       when = "0.3.0",
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-order.R b/tests/testthat/test-order.R
index 11cde5f7..6f087841 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-order.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-order.R
@@ -137,3 +137,16 @@ test_that("xportr_order: Variable ordering messaging is correct", {
     )
   )
 })
+
+test_that("xportr_order: Metadata order columns are coersed to numeric", {
+  df <- data.frame(c = 1:5, a = "a", d = 5:1, b = LETTERS[1:5])
+  df_meta <- data.frame(
+    dataset = "df",
+    variable = letters[1:4],
+    order = c("1", "2", "11", "90")
+  )
+
+  ordered_df <- xportr_order(df, df_meta)
+
+  expect_equal(names(ordered_df), df_meta$variable)
+})