diff --git a/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupThread.cpp b/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupThread.cpp
index 32a132d27a..1d096b993c 100644
--- a/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupThread.cpp
+++ b/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupThread.cpp
@@ -12,20 +12,16 @@
 
 NS_IMPL_ISUPPORTS(nsMsgGroupThread, nsIMsgThread)
 
-nsMsgGroupThread::nsMsgGroupThread() { Init(); }
-
-nsMsgGroupThread::nsMsgGroupThread(nsIMsgDatabase* db) {
-  m_db = db;
-  Init();
-}
-
-void nsMsgGroupThread::Init() {
+nsMsgGroupThread::nsMsgGroupThread(nsIMsgDatabase* db,
+                                   nsMsgViewSortOrderValue sortOrder) {
   m_threadKey = nsMsgKey_None;
   m_threadRootKey = nsMsgKey_None;
   m_numUnreadChildren = 0;
   m_flags = 0;
   m_newestMsgDate = 0;
   m_dummy = false;
+  m_db = db;
+  m_sortOrder = sortOrder;
 }
 
 nsMsgGroupThread::~nsMsgGroupThread() {}
@@ -115,27 +111,8 @@ nsMsgViewIndex nsMsgGroupThread::AddMsgHdrInDateOrder(nsIMsgDBHdr* child,
   // since we're sorted by date, we could do a binary search for the
   // insert point. Or, we could start at the end...
   if (m_keys.Length() > 0) {
-    nsMsgViewSortTypeValue sortType;
-    nsMsgViewSortOrderValue sortOrder;
-    (void)view->GetSortType(&sortType);
-    (void)view->GetSortOrder(&sortOrder);
-    // historical behavior is ascending date order unless our primary sort is
-    //  on date
-    nsMsgViewSortOrderValue threadSortOrder =
-        (sortType == nsMsgViewSortType::byDate &&
-         sortOrder == nsMsgViewSortOrder::descending)
-            ? nsMsgViewSortOrder::descending
-            : nsMsgViewSortOrder::ascending;
-    // new behavior is tricky and uses the secondary sort order if the secondary
-    //  sort is on the date
-    nsMsgViewSortTypeValue secondarySortType;
-    nsMsgViewSortOrderValue secondarySortOrder;
-    (void)view->GetSecondarySortType(&secondarySortType);
-    (void)view->GetSecondarySortOrder(&secondarySortOrder);
-    if (secondarySortType == nsMsgViewSortType::byDate)
-      threadSortOrder = secondarySortOrder;
     // sort by date within group.
-    insertIndex = GetInsertIndexFromView(view, child, threadSortOrder);
+    insertIndex = GetInsertIndexFromView(view, child, m_sortOrder);
   }
   m_keys.InsertElementAt(insertIndex, newHdrKey);
   if (!insertIndex) m_threadRootKey = newHdrKey;
@@ -654,7 +631,8 @@ NS_IMETHODIMP nsMsgGroupThread::SetNewestMsgDate(uint32_t aNewestMsgDate) {
   return NS_OK;
 }
 
-nsMsgXFGroupThread::nsMsgXFGroupThread() {}
+nsMsgXFGroupThread::nsMsgXFGroupThread(nsMsgViewSortOrderValue sortOrder)
+    : nsMsgGroupThread(nullptr, sortOrder) {}
 
 nsMsgXFGroupThread::~nsMsgXFGroupThread() {}
 
diff --git a/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupThread.h b/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupThread.h
index 735b9580e3..0e03b9d81f 100644
--- a/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupThread.h
+++ b/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupThread.h
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ class nsMsgGroupThread : public nsIMsgThread {
  public:
   friend class nsMsgGroupView;
 
-  nsMsgGroupThread();
-  explicit nsMsgGroupThread(nsIMsgDatabase* db);
+  explicit nsMsgGroupThread(nsIMsgDatabase* db,
+                            nsMsgViewSortOrderValue sortOrder);
 
   NS_DECL_NSIMSGTHREAD
   NS_DECL_ISUPPORTS
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ class nsMsgGroupThread : public nsIMsgThread {
  protected:
   virtual ~nsMsgGroupThread();
 
-  void Init();
   nsMsgViewIndex AddChildFromGroupView(nsIMsgDBHdr* child, nsMsgDBView* view);
   nsresult RemoveChild(nsMsgKey msgKey);
   nsresult RerootThread(nsIMsgDBHdr* newParentOfOldRoot, nsIMsgDBHdr* oldRoot,
@@ -61,11 +60,12 @@ class nsMsgGroupThread : public nsIMsgThread {
   nsTArray<nsMsgKey> m_keys;
   bool m_dummy;  // top level msg is a dummy, e.g., grouped by age.
   nsCOMPtr<nsIMsgDatabase> m_db;  // should we make a weak ref or just a ptr?
+  nsMsgViewSortOrderValue m_sortOrder;
 };
 
 class nsMsgXFGroupThread : public nsMsgGroupThread {
  public:
-  nsMsgXFGroupThread();
+  explicit nsMsgXFGroupThread(nsMsgViewSortOrderValue sortOrder);
 
   NS_IMETHOD GetNumChildren(uint32_t* aNumChildren) override;
   NS_IMETHOD GetChildKeyAt(uint32_t aIndex, nsMsgKey* aResult) override;
diff --git a/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupView.cpp b/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupView.cpp
index ca42d01a5a..929e4eab5e 100644
--- a/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupView.cpp
+++ b/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgGroupView.cpp
@@ -91,14 +91,16 @@ nsresult nsMsgGroupView::GetAgeBucketValue(nsIMsgDBHdr* aMsgHdr,
   NS_ENSURE_ARG_POINTER(aAgeBucket);
 
   PRTime dateOfMsg;
+  uint32_t rcvDateSecs;
   nsresult rv;
-  if (!rcvDate)
-    rv = aMsgHdr->GetDate(&dateOfMsg);
-  else {
-    uint32_t rcvDateSecs;
+
+  // Silently return Date: instead if Received: is unavailable.
+  if (rcvDate) {
     rv = aMsgHdr->GetUint32Property("dateReceived", &rcvDateSecs);
-    Seconds2PRTime(rcvDateSecs, &dateOfMsg);
+    if (rcvDateSecs != 0) Seconds2PRTime(rcvDateSecs, &dateOfMsg);
   }
+
+  if (!rcvDate || rcvDateSecs == 0) rv = aMsgHdr->GetDate(&dateOfMsg);
   NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(rv, rv);
 
   PRTime currentTime = PR_Now();
@@ -241,7 +243,14 @@ nsresult nsMsgGroupView::HashHdr(nsIMsgDBHdr* msgHdr, nsString& aHashKey) {
 }
 
 nsMsgGroupThread* nsMsgGroupView::CreateGroupThread(nsIMsgDatabase* db) {
-  return new nsMsgGroupThread(db);
+  nsMsgViewSortOrderValue threadSortOrder = nsMsgViewSortOrder::descending;
+  if (m_sortType == nsMsgViewSortType::byDate ||
+      m_sortType == nsMsgViewSortType::byReceived) {
+    threadSortOrder = m_sortOrder;
+  } else {
+    m_db->GetDefaultSortOrder(&threadSortOrder);
+  }
+  return new nsMsgGroupThread(db, threadSortOrder);
 }
 
 nsMsgGroupThread* nsMsgGroupView::AddHdrToThread(nsIMsgDBHdr* msgHdr,
@@ -792,7 +801,7 @@ nsMsgGroupView::CellTextForColumn(int32_t aRow, const nsAString& aColumnName,
         break;
       }
       case nsMsgViewSortType::bySubject:
-        FetchSubject(msgHdr, m_flags[aRow], aValue);
+        FetchSubject(msgHdr, m_flags[aRow] & ~nsMsgMessageFlags::HasRe, aValue);
         break;
       case nsMsgViewSortType::byAuthor:
         FetchAuthor(msgHdr, aValue);
diff --git a/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgSearchDBView.cpp b/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgSearchDBView.cpp
index ff2bfa0080..3b4747b6ae 100644
--- a/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgSearchDBView.cpp
+++ b/mailnews/base/src/nsMsgSearchDBView.cpp
@@ -1274,7 +1274,17 @@ nsresult nsMsgSearchDBView::RemoveMsgFromHashTables(nsIMsgDBHdr* msgHdr) {
 
 nsMsgGroupThread* nsMsgSearchDBView::CreateGroupThread(
     nsIMsgDatabase* /* db */) {
-  return new nsMsgXFGroupThread();
+  nsMsgViewSortOrderValue threadSortOrder = nsMsgViewSortOrder::descending;
+  if (m_sortType == nsMsgViewSortType::byDate ||
+      m_sortType == nsMsgViewSortType::byReceived) {
+    threadSortOrder = m_sortOrder;
+  } else {
+    if (mozilla::Preferences::GetInt("mailnews.default_sort_order") ==
+        nsMsgViewSortOrder::ascending) {
+      threadSortOrder = nsMsgViewSortOrder::ascending;
+    }
+  }
+  return new nsMsgXFGroupThread(threadSortOrder);
 }
 
 NS_IMETHODIMP