diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 58461e02f8..57772c7501 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -832,14 +832,16 @@ static void wt_status_collect_untracked(struct wt_status *s)
 	for (i = 0; i < dir.nr; i++) {
 		struct dir_entry *ent = dir.entries[i];
 		if (index_name_is_other(istate, ent->name, ent->len))
-			string_list_insert(&s->untracked, ent->name);
+			string_list_append(&s->untracked, ent->name);
 	}
+	string_list_sort_u(&s->untracked, 0);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < dir.ignored_nr; i++) {
 		struct dir_entry *ent = dir.ignored[i];
 		if (index_name_is_other(istate, ent->name, ent->len))
-			string_list_insert(&s->ignored, ent->name);
+			string_list_append(&s->ignored, ent->name);
 	}
+	string_list_sort_u(&s->ignored, 0);
 
 	dir_clear(&dir);