diff --git a/src/common/utils/projectOrdering.test.ts b/src/common/utils/projectOrdering.test.ts
index 2e6dddd40..5406e9537 100644
--- a/src/common/utils/projectOrdering.test.ts
+++ b/src/common/utils/projectOrdering.test.ts
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ describe("projectOrdering", () => {
   };
 
   describe("sortProjectsByOrder", () => {
-    it("returns natural order when order array is empty", () => {
+    it("returns lexical order when order array is empty", () => {
       const projects = createProjects(["/a", "/c", "/b"]);
       const result = sortProjectsByOrder(projects, []);
-      expect(result.map(([p]) => p)).toEqual(["/a", "/c", "/b"]);
+      expect(result.map(([p]) => p)).toEqual(["/a", "/b", "/c"]);
     });
 
     it("sorts projects according to order array", () => {
diff --git a/src/common/utils/projectOrdering.ts b/src/common/utils/projectOrdering.ts
index 4b4bad763..0abcfaf1a 100644
--- a/src/common/utils/projectOrdering.ts
+++ b/src/common/utils/projectOrdering.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ export function sortProjectsByOrder(
 ): Array<[string, ProjectConfig]> {
   const entries = Array.from(projects.entries());
 
-  if (order.length === 0) return entries; // Natural order
+  if (order.length === 0) {
+    // Sort lexically for stable, deterministic order
+    return entries.sort(([a], [b]) => a.localeCompare(b));
+  }
 
   const pos = new Map(order.map((p, i) => [p, i]));