diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/subphase/highlight/HighlighterSearchIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/subphase/highlight/HighlighterSearchIT.java
index 2d05bb0765f75..4e61645d6c0b7 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/subphase/highlight/HighlighterSearchIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/subphase/highlight/HighlighterSearchIT.java
@@ -698,15 +698,60 @@ public void testPlainHighlighter() throws Exception {
                 .setSource("field1", "this is a test", "field2", "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog").get();
         refresh();
 
-        logger.info("--> highlighting and searching on field1");
         SearchSourceBuilder source = searchSource()
                 .query(termQuery("field1", "test"))
-                .highlighter(highlight().field("field1").order("score").preTags("<xxx>").postTags("</xxx>"));
+                .highlighter(highlight().highlighterType("plain").field("field1").order("score").preTags("<xxx>").postTags("</xxx>"));
 
         SearchResponse searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("test").setSource(source).get();
 
         assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 0, 1, equalTo("this is a <xxx>test</xxx>"));
+    }
+
+    public void testPlainHighlighterOrder() throws Exception {
+        ensureGreen();
+
+        client().prepareIndex("test", "type")
+                .setSource("field1", "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy brown dog but to no suprise the dog doesn't care").get();
+        refresh();
+
+        {
+            // fragments should be in order of appearance by default
+            SearchSourceBuilder source = searchSource().query(matchQuery("field1", "brown dog"))
+                .highlighter(
+                    highlight().highlighterType("plain").field("field1").preTags("<xxx>").postTags("</xxx>").fragmentSize(25)
+                );
+
+            SearchResponse searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("test").setSource(source).get();
 
+            assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 0, 3, equalTo("The quick <xxx>brown</xxx> fox"));
+            assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 1, 3, equalTo(" jumps over the lazy <xxx>brown</xxx> <xxx>dog</xxx>"));
+            assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 2, 3, equalTo(" <xxx>dog</xxx> doesn't care"));
+
+            // lets be explicit about the order
+            source = searchSource().query(matchQuery("field1", "brown dog"))
+                .highlighter(
+                    highlight().highlighterType("plain").field("field1").order("none").preTags("<xxx>").postTags("</xxx>").fragmentSize(25)
+                );
+
+            searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("test").setSource(source).get();
+
+            assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 0, 3, equalTo("The quick <xxx>brown</xxx> fox"));
+            assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 1, 3, equalTo(" jumps over the lazy <xxx>brown</xxx> <xxx>dog</xxx>"));
+            assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 2, 3, equalTo(" <xxx>dog</xxx> doesn't care"));
+        }
+        {
+            // order by score
+            SearchSourceBuilder source = searchSource().query(matchQuery("field1", "brown dog"))
+                .highlighter(
+                    highlight().highlighterType("plain").order("score").field("field1").preTags("<xxx>").postTags("</xxx>").fragmentSize(25)
+                );
+
+            SearchResponse searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("test").setSource(source).get();
+
+            assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 0, 3, equalTo(" jumps over the lazy <xxx>brown</xxx> <xxx>dog</xxx>"));
+            assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 1, 3, equalTo("The quick <xxx>brown</xxx> fox"));
+            assertHighlight(searchResponse, 0, "field1", 2, 3, equalTo(" <xxx>dog</xxx> doesn't care"));
+        }
     }
 
     public void testFastVectorHighlighter() throws Exception {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/subphase/highlight/PlainHighlighter.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/subphase/highlight/PlainHighlighter.java
index 59755d22489d8..3d4167d9e1e40 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/subphase/highlight/PlainHighlighter.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/subphase/highlight/PlainHighlighter.java
@@ -135,8 +135,9 @@ public HighlightField highlight(FieldHighlightContext fieldContext) throws IOExc
             }
         }
 
-        if (field.fieldOptions().scoreOrdered()) {
-            CollectionUtil.introSort(fragsList, (o1, o2) -> Math.round(o2.getScore() - o1.getScore()));
+        // fragments are ordered by score by default since we add them in best
+        if (field.fieldOptions().scoreOrdered() == false) {
+            CollectionUtil.introSort(fragsList, (o1, o2) -> o1.getFragNum() - o2.getFragNum());
         }
         String[] fragments;
         // number_of_fragments is set to 0 but we have a multivalued field