diff --git a/app/controllers/users/sidebars_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users/sidebars_controller.rb
index ce998e8..4943a34 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users/sidebars_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users/sidebars_controller.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@ class Users::SidebarsController < ApplicationController
   DIRECT_PLACEHOLDERS = 20
 
   def show
-    @direct_memberships, @other_memberships = Current.user.memberships.visible.with_ordered_room.partition { |membership| membership.room.direct? }
-    @direct_memberships = @direct_memberships.sort_by { |membership| membership.room.updated_at }.reverse
+    visible_memberships = Current.user.memberships.visible
+    @direct_memberships = visible_memberships.with_direct_rooms
+    @other_memberships  = visible_memberships.without_direct_rooms.with_ordered_room
 
     @direct_placeholder_users = find_direct_placeholder_users
   end
diff --git a/app/models/membership.rb b/app/models/membership.rb
index 74c225b..da7a0a6 100644
--- a/app/models/membership.rb
+++ b/app/models/membership.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ class Membership < ApplicationRecord
   enum :involvement, %w[ invisible nothing mentions everything ].index_by(&:itself), prefix: :involved_in
 
   scope :with_ordered_room, -> { includes(:room).joins(:room).order("LOWER(rooms.name)") }
+  scope :with_direct_rooms, -> { includes(:room).joins(:room).where(rooms: { type: "Rooms::Direct" }).order(rooms: { updated_at: :desc }) }
   scope :without_direct_rooms, -> { joins(:room).where.not(room: { type: "Rooms::Direct" }) }
 
   scope :visible, -> { where.not(involvement: :invisible) }
diff --git a/test/controllers/users/sidebars_controller_test.rb b/test/controllers/users/sidebars_controller_test.rb
index 50caae7..5ed957a 100644
--- a/test/controllers/users/sidebars_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/controllers/users/sidebars_controller_test.rb
@@ -27,4 +27,25 @@ class Users::SidebarsControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
     get user_sidebar_url
     assert_select ".unread", count: users(:david).memberships.reject { |m| m.room.direct? || !m.unread? }.count
   end
+
+  test "directs are queried separately and ordered by room recency, not name" do
+    older = rooms(:david_and_jason)
+    newer = rooms(:david_and_kevin)
+    older.update_column :updated_at, 2.days.ago
+    newer.update_column :updated_at, 1.minute.ago
+
+    get user_sidebar_url
+
+    assert_operator @response.body.index(dom_id(newer, :list)), :<, @response.body.index(dom_id(older, :list))
+  end
+
+  test "shared rooms stay ordered by name" do
+    get user_sidebar_url
+
+    shared_ids = users(:david).rooms.without_directs.sort_by { |room| room.name.downcase }.map { |room| dom_id(room, :list) }
+    positions = shared_ids.map { |id| @response.body.index(id) }
+
+    assert positions.all?
+    assert_equal positions.sort, positions
+  end
 end