diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql-core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/core/expression/Expression.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql-core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/core/expression/Expression.java
index 39a88d4ccf5db..09f3970966612 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql-core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/core/expression/Expression.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql-core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/core/expression/Expression.java
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ protected static boolean isAttributePushable(
         return false;
     }
 
-    private static boolean isPushableFieldAttribute(Expression exp, Predicate<FieldAttribute> hasIdenticalDelegate) {
+    public static boolean isPushableFieldAttribute(Expression exp, Predicate<FieldAttribute> hasIdenticalDelegate) {
         if (exp instanceof FieldAttribute fa && fa.getExactInfo().hasExact() && isAggregatable(fa)) {
             return fa.dataType() != DataType.TEXT || hasIdenticalDelegate.test(fa);
         }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/optimizer/LocalPhysicalPlanOptimizer.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/optimizer/LocalPhysicalPlanOptimizer.java
index cac5bc69bfdff..c6af827f0496d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/optimizer/LocalPhysicalPlanOptimizer.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/optimizer/LocalPhysicalPlanOptimizer.java
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ protected PhysicalPlan rule(TopNExec topNExec, LocalPhysicalOptimizerContext ctx
 
         private boolean canPushDownOrders(List<Order> orders, Predicate<FieldAttribute> hasIdenticalDelegate) {
             // allow only exact FieldAttributes (no expressions) for sorting
-            return orders.stream().allMatch(o -> o.child().canPushToSource(hasIdenticalDelegate));
+            return orders.stream().allMatch(o -> Expression.isPushableFieldAttribute(o.child(), hasIdenticalDelegate));
         }
 
         private List<EsQueryExec.FieldSort> buildFieldSorts(List<Order> orders) {