diff --git a/etiquette/photodb.py b/etiquette/photodb.py
index d25ec97..2298bdb 100644
--- a/etiquette/photodb.py
+++ b/etiquette/photodb.py
@@ -776,12 +776,14 @@ class PDBPhotoMixin:
         else:
             filename_tree = None
 
-        giveback_orderby = [
-            '%s-%s' % (column.replace('RANDOM()', 'random'), direction)
-            for (column, direction) in orderby
-        ]
-
-        if not orderby:
+        if orderby:
+            giveback_orderby = [
+                f'{friendly}-{direction}'
+                for (friendly, expanded, direction) in orderby
+            ]
+            orderby = [(expanded, direction) for (friendly, expanded, direction) in orderby]
+        else:
+            giveback_orderby = None
             orderby = [('created', 'desc')]
 
         if give_back_parameters:
@@ -807,7 +809,7 @@ class PDBPhotoMixin:
                 'within_directory': within_directory or None,
                 'limit': limit,
                 'offset': offset or None,
-                'orderby': giveback_orderby or None,
+                'orderby': giveback_orderby,
                 'yield_albums': yield_albums,
                 'yield_photos': yield_photos,
             }
diff --git a/etiquette/searchhelpers.py b/etiquette/searchhelpers.py
index b99920b..b482329 100644
--- a/etiquette/searchhelpers.py
+++ b/etiquette/searchhelpers.py
@@ -290,7 +290,10 @@ def normalize_orderby(orderby, warning_bag=None):
 
     With no direction, direction is implied desc.
 
-    Returns: A list of tuples of (column, direction)
+    Returns: A list of tuples of (column_friendly, column_expanded, direction)
+    where friendly is the name as the user would see it and expanded is the
+    expression to be used in the SQL query. This is important for columns like
+    "area" which is expanded into width*height.
     '''
     if orderby is None:
         orderby = []
@@ -344,23 +347,25 @@ def normalize_orderby(orderby, warning_bag=None):
             else:
                 raise exc
 
-        if column == 'random':
-            column = 'RANDOM()'
+        column_friendly = column
+        column_expanded = column
 
-        elif column == 'area':
-            column = '(width * height)'
+        if column_expanded == 'random':
+            column_expanded = 'RANDOM()'
 
-        elif column == 'basename':
-            column = 'COALESCE(override_filename, basename)'
+        elif column_expanded == 'area':
+            column_expanded = '(width * height)'
 
-        elif column == 'bitrate':
-            column = '((bytes / 128) / duration)'
+        elif column_expanded == 'basename':
+            column_expanded = 'COALESCE(override_filename, basename)'
 
-        elif column == 'ratio':
-            column = '(width / height)'
+        elif column_expanded == 'bitrate':
+            column_expanded = '((bytes / 128) / duration)'
 
-        requested_order = (column, direction)
-        final_orderby.append(requested_order)
+        elif column_expanded == 'ratio':
+            column_expanded = '(width / height)'
+
+        final_orderby.append( (column_friendly, column_expanded, direction) )
 
     return final_orderby
 
diff --git a/frontends/etiquette_flask/templates/search.html b/frontends/etiquette_flask/templates/search.html
index 4e32291..4732092 100644
--- a/frontends/etiquette_flask/templates/search.html
+++ b/frontends/etiquette_flask/templates/search.html
@@ -168,13 +168,13 @@
 <li class="search_builder_orderby_li">
     <select onchange="return orderby_hide_direction_hook(event);">
         <option value="created" {{"selected" if selected_column=="created" else ""}}>Creation date</option>
-        <option value="area" {{"selected" if selected_column=="(width * height)" else ""}}>Area</option>
+        <option value="area" {{"selected" if selected_column=="area" else ""}}>Area</option>
         <option value="width" {{"selected" if selected_column=="width" else ""}}>Width</option>
         <option value="height" {{"selected" if selected_column=="height" else ""}}>Height</option>
-        <option value="ratio" {{"selected" if selected_column=="(width / height)" else ""}}>Aspect Ratio</option>
+        <option value="ratio" {{"selected" if selected_column=="ratio" else ""}}>Aspect Ratio</option>
         <option value="bytes" {{"selected" if selected_column=="bytes" else ""}}>File size</option>
         <option value="duration" {{"selected" if selected_column=="duration" else ""}}>Duration</option>
-        <option value="bitrate" {{"selected" if selected_column=="((bytes / 128) / duration)" else ""}}>Bitrate</option>
+        <option value="bitrate" {{"selected" if selected_column=="bitrate" else ""}}>Bitrate</option>
         <option value="tagged_at" {{"selected" if selected_column=="tagged_at" else ""}}>Recently tagged</option>
         <option value="random" {{"selected" if selected_column=="random" else ""}}>Random</option>
     </select>