diff --git a/admin/configuration.php b/admin/configuration.php
index 2e6fc0885..70ab9f215 100644
--- a/admin/configuration.php
+++ b/admin/configuration.php
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ if (isset($_POST['submit']))
             $order_by = $order_by_inside_category = array_slice($_POST['order_by'], 0, ceil(count($sort_fields)/2));
 
             // there is no rank outside categories
-            if ( ($i = array_search('rank ASC', $order_by)) !== false)
+            if ( ($i = array_search('`rank` ASC', $order_by)) !== false)
             {
               unset($order_by[$i]);
             }
diff --git a/include/common.inc.php b/include/common.inc.php
index b67516e4c..e0081529b 100644
--- a/include/common.inc.php
+++ b/include/common.inc.php
@@ -141,6 +141,19 @@ ImageStdParams::load_from_db();
 session_start();
 load_plugins();
 
+// 2022-02-25 due to escape on "rank" (becoming a mysql keyword in version 8), the $conf['order_by'] might
+// use a "rank", even if admin/configuration.php should have removed it. We must remove it.
+// TODO remove this data update as soon as 2025 arrives
+if (preg_match('/(, )?`rank` ASC/', $conf['order_by']))
+{
+  $order_by = preg_replace('/(, )?`rank` ASC/', '', $conf['order_by']);
+  if ('ORDER BY ' == $order_by)
+  {
+    $order_by = 'ORDER BY id ASC';
+  }
+  conf_update_param('order_by', $order_by, true);
+}
+
 // users can have defined a custom order pattern, incompatible with GUI form
 if (isset($conf['order_by_custom']))
 {