diff --git a/assets/views/shop/_results.html b/assets/views/shop/_results.html
index 178dbb7..ae19509 100644
--- a/assets/views/shop/_results.html
+++ b/assets/views/shop/_results.html
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
    server-side on first load. Holds the result summary, the product grid and
    pagination. #}
 {% set L = lang | default(value='sk') %}
+{# On htmx responses the toolbar's Sort dropdown isn't in this swapped region;
+   re-render it out-of-band so a search-triggered "newest → relevance" switch is
+   reflected in the visible selection. #}
+{% if is_fragment | default(value=false) %}{% set oob = true %}{% include "shop/_sort_select.html" %}{% endif %}
 <div class="space-y-4">
   <div class="flex flex-wrap items-center justify-between gap-2">
     <p class="text-sm text-on-surface/70 dark:text-on-surface-dark/70" aria-live="polite">
diff --git a/assets/views/shop/_search.html b/assets/views/shop/_search.html
index 4c12044..13abed8 100644
--- a/assets/views/shop/_search.html
+++ b/assets/views/shop/_search.html
@@ -51,12 +51,7 @@
     <div class="flex flex-wrap items-center justify-end gap-3">
       <label class="flex items-center gap-2 text-xs font-medium text-on-surface/70 dark:text-on-surface-dark/70">
         {{ t(key="sort-label", lang=L) }}
-        <select name="sort"
-          class="rounded-radius border border-outline bg-surface px-2 py-1.5 text-sm text-on-surface focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:outline-primary dark:border-outline-dark dark:bg-surface-dark dark:text-on-surface-dark">
-          {% for opt in ["newest", "relevance", "price_asc", "price_desc", "name_asc", "name_desc"] %}
-          <option value="{{ opt }}"{% if sort == opt %} selected{% endif %}>{{ t(key="sort-" ~ opt, lang=L) }}</option>
-          {% endfor %}
-        </select>
+        {% include "shop/_sort_select.html" %}
       </label>
 
       <!-- per-page count -->
diff --git a/assets/views/shop/_sort_select.html b/assets/views/shop/_sort_select.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef0ce0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/views/shop/_sort_select.html
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{# Sort dropdown, shared by the toolbar (in the search form) and the results
+   fragment. A search promotes the default "newest" to "relevance" server-side,
+   but the toolbar select lives outside the swapped #shop-results region — so on
+   htmx responses _results.html re-renders this with `oob = true` (hx-swap-oob)
+   to keep the visible selection in sync with the actual ordering. #}
+{% set L = lang | default(value='sk') %}
+<select id="sort-select" name="sort"{% if oob | default(value=false) %} hx-swap-oob="true"{% endif %}
+  class="rounded-radius border border-outline bg-surface px-2 py-1.5 text-sm text-on-surface focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:outline-primary dark:border-outline-dark dark:bg-surface-dark dark:text-on-surface-dark">
+  {% for opt in ["newest", "relevance", "price_asc", "price_desc", "name_asc", "name_desc"] %}
+  <option value="{{ opt }}"{% if sort == opt %} selected{% endif %}>{{ t(key="sort-" ~ opt, lang=L) }}</option>
+  {% endfor %}
+</select>
diff --git a/src/controllers/shop.rs b/src/controllers/shop.rs
index 89429d7..522051f 100644
--- a/src/controllers/shop.rs
+++ b/src/controllers/shop.rs
@@ -194,12 +194,17 @@ async fn run_search(
     items.retain(|i| view::category_filter_keep(&filter, i.product.category_id));
 
     // 6. Sort. Newest-first is the default; relevance (the ranked search order)
-    //    is available explicitly via the sort control.
-    let sort = params
+    //    is available explicitly via the sort control. When a search runs, the
+    //    default "newest" becomes "relevance" (a query implies relevance matters
+    //    most); any explicitly chosen non-newest sort is left untouched.
+    let mut sort = params
         .sort
         .clone()
         .filter(|s| !s.is_empty())
         .unwrap_or_else(|| "newest".to_string());
+    if !q_trim.is_empty() && sort == "newest" {
+        sort = "relevance".to_string();
+    }
     match sort.as_str() {
         "price_asc" => items.sort_by(|a, b| a.priced.price_cents.cmp(&b.priced.price_cents)),
         "price_desc" => items.sort_by(|a, b| b.priced.price_cents.cmp(&a.priced.price_cents)),
@@ -391,6 +396,9 @@ async fn search(
     if fragment {
         if let Some(map) = context.as_object_mut() {
             map.insert("lang".into(), json!(lang));
+            // Lets _results.html out-of-band swap the toolbar's Sort dropdown
+            // (which lives outside the swapped region) to match the ordering.
+            map.insert("is_fragment".into(), json!(true));
         }
         return format::view(&v, "shop/_results.html", context);
     }