diff --git a/server/src/modules/book/book-query-builder.service.test.ts b/server/src/modules/book/book-query-builder.service.test.ts
index b33c05651..205cac465 100644
--- a/server/src/modules/book/book-query-builder.service.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/modules/book/book-query-builder.service.test.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ import {
   CUSTOM_FIELD_TYPE_OPERATORS,
   EMPTY_CONTENT_FILTER_RULES,
   FIELD_OPERATORS,
+  SORT_FIELDS,
   customRuleField,
   type CustomMetadataFieldType,
   type RuleField,
@@ -1987,6 +1988,15 @@ describe('BookQueryBuilder.buildCollapseOrderBy', () => {
     expect(BookQueryBuilder.buildCollapseOrderBy([{ field: 'updatedAt', dir: 'asc' }], 1)).toBe('updated_at ASC NULLS LAST, r.id ASC');
   });
 
+  it('generates metadataScore sort against the representative row', () => {
+    expect(BookQueryBuilder.buildCollapseOrderBy([{ field: 'metadataScore', dir: 'asc' }], 1)).toBe('metadata_score ASC NULLS LAST, r.id ASC');
+    expect(BookQueryBuilder.buildCollapseOrderBy([{ field: 'metadataScore', dir: 'desc' }], 1)).toBe('metadata_score DESC NULLS LAST, r.id ASC');
+  });
+
+  it.each(SORT_FIELDS.filter((field) => field !== 'relevance'))('honours the %s browse sort instead of falling back to title', (field) => {
+    expect(BookQueryBuilder.buildCollapseOrderBy([{ field, dir: 'desc' }], 1)).not.toBe('sort_title ASC NULLS LAST, r.id ASC');
+  });
+
   it('generates fileSize sort using the primary file', () => {
     expect(BookQueryBuilder.buildCollapseOrderBy([{ field: 'fileSize', dir: 'desc' }], 1)).toBe(
       '(SELECT bf.size_bytes FROM book_files bf WHERE bf.id = r.primary_file_id) DESC NULLS LAST, r.id ASC',
diff --git a/server/src/modules/book/book-query-builder.service.ts b/server/src/modules/book/book-query-builder.service.ts
index 15165bb83..7bdbc13a0 100644
--- a/server/src/modules/book/book-query-builder.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/modules/book/book-query-builder.service.ts
@@ -1166,6 +1166,9 @@ export class BookQueryBuilder {
         case 'pageCount':
           parts.push(`page_count ${D} NULLS LAST`);
           break;
+        case 'metadataScore':
+          parts.push(`metadata_score ${D} NULLS LAST`);
+          break;
         case 'updatedAt':
           parts.push(`updated_at ${D} NULLS LAST`);
           break;
diff --git a/server/src/modules/book/book.repository.ts b/server/src/modules/book/book.repository.ts
index 92684ae98..e6b32c508 100644
--- a/server/src/modules/book/book.repository.ts
+++ b/server/src/modules/book/book.repository.ts
@@ -1275,6 +1275,7 @@ export class BookRepository {
           book_metadata.published_year,
           book_metadata.publisher,
           book_metadata.page_count,
+          book_metadata.metadata_score,
           NULLIF(lower(btrim(book_metadata.series_name)), '') AS norm_series
           ${source.baseExtraSelect}
         FROM books
@@ -1301,6 +1302,7 @@ export class BookRepository {
           base.published_year,
           base.publisher,
           base.page_count,
+          base.metadata_score,
           ubr.rating,
           base.primary_author_sort_name AS author_sort_name,
           COALESCE(base.norm_series, lower(base.title)) AS sort_title,
diff --git a/server/test/jump-buckets-invariant.e2e-spec.ts b/server/test/jump-buckets-invariant.e2e-spec.ts
index 94752c7c5..8a34a2690 100644
--- a/server/test/jump-buckets-invariant.e2e-spec.ts
+++ b/server/test/jump-buckets-invariant.e2e-spec.ts
@@ -396,6 +396,22 @@ describe('Jump buckets invariant (e2e)', { timeout: SCENARIO_TIMEOUT_MS }, () =>
     }
   }
 
+  it('applies a secondary metadataScore tier to collapsed buckets without breaking the anchors', async () => {
+    const sort: SortSpec[] = [
+      { field: 'title', dir: 'asc' },
+      { field: 'metadataScore', dir: 'desc' },
+    ];
+    const [bucketsResponse, listing] = await Promise.all([fetchBuckets(sort, true), fetchListing(sort, true)]);
+
+    expect(bucketsResponse.total).toBe(listing.total);
+    expect(bucketsResponse.buckets.length).toBeGreaterThan(1);
+    for (const bucket of bucketsResponse.buckets) {
+      const seeded = seededById.get((listing.items[bucket.index] as BookCard).id);
+      expect(seeded).toBeDefined();
+      expect(expectedBucketKey(seeded!, 'title', true, bucketsResponse.granularity)).toBe(bucket.key);
+    }
+  });
+
   it('preserves every populated year when sparse years fit the bounded capacity', async () => {
     const response = await fetchBuckets([{ field: 'publishedYear', dir: 'asc' }], false);
     const expectedYears = [...new Set([...seededById.values()].flatMap((book) => (book.publishedYear === null ? [] : [String(book.publishedYear)])))];