One tenable position<sup><b>a</b></sup> would be: The query compiler, while under no obligation to produce any particular ordering where an inner ordered SELECT is used for joins, should not needlessly drop the ordering where the row set is going into any aggregating function. After all, anybody who wants to avoid a truly extraneous inner ordering has a relatively simple option: Don't write that! To the point on respecting order imposed with a view: As I understand SQLite's operation, once a view is incorporated into a larger query, its specifications are subject to all kinds of query flattening and rewriting. I think it would handicap the optimizer if a view's ordering was treated as sacrosanct. ---- <b>a.</b> At least I would cling to that view, for awhile.