diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f9e11ef..bf52e64 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -172,6 +172,22 @@ Team.findAll({order: [['name', 'DESC']]})
 Team.findAll({order: [['name'], ['city']]})
 ```
 
+You can even order by associated models. Though there is a [sequelize bug](https://github.com/sequelize/sequelize/issues?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=is%3Aissue%20is%3Aopen%20order%20join%20) that might prevent this from working properly. A workaround is to `&include` the model you're ordering by.
+```js
+// returns the players ordered by the team name
+// GET /players?order[0]={"model": "Team"}&order[0]=name
+
+// results in a Sequelize query:
+Player.findAll({order: [[{model: Team}, 'name']]})
+
+// if the above returns a Sequelize error: `No such column Team.name`,
+// you can work around this by forcing the join into the query:
+// GET /players?order[0]={"model": "Team"}&order[0]=name&include=team
+
+// results in a Sequelize query:
+Player.findAll({order: [[{model: Team}, 'name']], include: [Team]})
+```
+
 
 ## Authorization and other hooks
 You can use Hapi's [`ext` option](http://hapijs.com/api#route-options) to interact with the request both before and after this module does. This is useful if you want to enforce authorization, or modify the request before or after this module does. Hapi [has a full list of hooks](http://hapijs.com/api#request-lifecycle) you can use.
diff --git a/src/crud-list-order.integration.test.js b/src/crud-list-order.integration.test.js
index daba5dc..d184164 100644
--- a/src/crud-list-order.integration.test.js
+++ b/src/crud-list-order.integration.test.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ setup(test);
 
 test('/players?order=name', async (t) => {
   const { server, instances } = t.context;
-  const { player1, player2 } = instances;
+  const { player1, player2, player3 } = instances;
   const url = '/players?order=name';
   const method = 'GET';
 
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@ test('/players?order=name', async (t) => {
   // this is the order we'd expect the names to be in
   t.is(result[0].name, player1.name);
   t.is(result[1].name, player2.name);
+  t.is(result[2].name, player3.name);
 });
 
 test('/players?order=name%20ASC', async (t) => {
   const { server, instances } = t.context;
-  const { player1, player2 } = instances;
+  const { player1, player2, player3 } = instances;
   const url = '/players?order=name%20ASC';
   const method = 'GET';
 
@@ -31,24 +32,26 @@ test('/players?order=name%20ASC', async (t) => {
   // this is the order we'd expect the names to be in
   t.is(result[0].name, player1.name);
   t.is(result[1].name, player2.name);
+  t.is(result[2].name, player3.name);
 });
 
 test('/players?order=name%20DESC', async (t) => {
   const { server, instances } = t.context;
-  const { player1, player2 } = instances;
+  const { player1, player2, player3 } = instances;
   const url = '/players?order=name%20DESC';
   const method = 'GET';
 
   const { result, statusCode } = await server.inject({ url, method });
   t.is(statusCode, STATUS_OK);
   // this is the order we'd expect the names to be in
-  t.is(result[0].name, player2.name);
-  t.is(result[1].name, player1.name);
+  t.is(result[0].name, player3.name);
+  t.is(result[1].name, player2.name);
+  t.is(result[2].name, player1.name);
 });
 
 test('/players?order[]=name', async (t) => {
   const { server, instances } = t.context;
-  const { player1, player2 } = instances;
+  const { player1, player2, player3 } = instances;
   const url = '/players?order[]=name';
   const method = 'GET';
 
@@ -57,19 +60,74 @@ test('/players?order[]=name', async (t) => {
   // this is the order we'd expect the names to be in
   t.is(result[0].name, player1.name);
   t.is(result[1].name, player2.name);
+  t.is(result[2].name, player3.name);
 });
 
 test('/players?order[0]=name&order[0]=DESC', async (t) => {
   const { server, instances } = t.context;
-  const { player1, player2 } = instances;
+  const { player1, player2, player3 } = instances;
   const url = '/players?order[0]=name&order[0]=DESC';
   const method = 'GET';
 
   const { result, statusCode } = await server.inject({ url, method });
   t.is(statusCode, STATUS_OK);
   // this is the order we'd expect the names to be in
-  t.is(result[0].name, player2.name);
+  t.is(result[0].name, player3.name);
+  t.is(result[1].name, player2.name);
+  t.is(result[2].name, player1.name);
+});
+
+// multiple sorts
+test('/players?order[0]=active&order[0]=DESC&order[1]=name&order[1]=DESC', async (t) => {
+  const { server, instances } = t.context;
+  const { player1, player2, player3 } = instances;
+  const url = '/players?order[0]=name&order[0]=DESC&order[1]=teamId&order[1]=DESC';
+  const method = 'GET';
+
+  const { result, statusCode } = await server.inject({ url, method });
+  t.is(statusCode, STATUS_OK);
+  // this is the order we'd expect the names to be in
+  t.is(result[0].name, player3.name);
+  t.is(result[1].name, player2.name);
+  t.is(result[2].name, player1.name);
+});
+
+// this will fail b/c sequelize doesn't correctly do the join when you pass
+// an order. There are many issues for this:
+// eslint-disable-next-line
+// https://github.com/sequelize/sequelize/issues?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=is%3Aissue%20is%3Aopen%20order%20join%20
+//
+// https://github.com/sequelize/sequelize/issues/5353 is a good example
+// if this test passes, that's great! Just remove the workaround note in the
+// docs
+// eslint-disable-next-line
+test.failing('sequelize bug /players?order[0]={"model":"Team"}&order[0]=name&order[0]=DESC', async (t) => {
+  const { server, instances } = t.context;
+  const { player1, player2, player3 } = instances;
+  const url = '/players?order[0]={"model":"Team"}&order[0]=name&order[0]=DESC';
+  const method = 'GET';
+
+  const { result, statusCode } = await server.inject({ url, method });
+  t.is(statusCode, STATUS_OK);
+  // this is the order we'd expect the names to be in
+  t.is(result[0].name, player3.name);
   t.is(result[1].name, player1.name);
+  t.is(result[2].name, player2.name);
+});
+
+// b/c the above fails, this is a work-around
+test('/players?order[0]={"model":"Team"}&order[0]=name&order[0]=DESC&include=team', async (t) => {
+  const { server, instances } = t.context;
+  const { player1, player2, player3 } = instances;
+  const url = '/players?order[0]={"model":"Team"}&order[0]=name&order[0]=DESC&include=team';
+  const method = 'GET';
+
+  const { result, statusCode } = await server.inject({ url, method });
+  t.is(statusCode, STATUS_OK);
+  // this is the order we'd expect the names to be in
+  t.is(result[0].name, player3.name);
+  t.is(result[1].name, player1.name);
+  t.is(result[2].name, player2.name);
 });
 
 test('invalid column /players?order[0]=invalid', async (t) => {
diff --git a/src/utils.js b/src/utils.js
index dae90c0..6f547b5 100644
--- a/src/utils.js
+++ b/src/utils.js
@@ -3,21 +3,27 @@ import { notImplemented } from 'boom';
 
 const sequelizeKeys = ['include', 'order', 'limit', 'offset'];
 
+const getModels = (request) => {
+  const noGetDb = typeof request.getDb !== 'function';
+  const noRequestModels = !request.models;
+  if (noGetDb && noRequestModels) {
+    return notImplemented('`request.getDb` or `request.models` are not defined.'
+                   + 'Be sure to load hapi-sequelize before hapi-sequelize-crud.');
+  }
+
+  const { models } = noGetDb ? request : request.getDb();
+
+  return models;
+};
+
 export const parseInclude = request => {
   const include = Array.isArray(request.query.include)
     ? request.query.include
     : [request.query.include]
     ;
 
-  const noGetDb = typeof request.getDb !== 'function';
-  const noRequestModels = !request.models;
-
-  if (noGetDb && noRequestModels) {
-    return notImplemented('`request.getDb` or `request.models` are not defined.'
-                   + 'Be sure to load hapi-sequelize before hapi-sequelize-crud.');
-  }
-
-  const { models } = noGetDb ? request : request.getDb();
+  const models = getModels(request);
+  if (models.isBoom) return models;
 
   return include.map(a => {
     const singluarOrPluralMatch = Object.keys(models).find((modelName) => {
@@ -63,24 +69,40 @@ export const parseLimitAndOffset = (request) => {
   return out;
 };
 
+const parseOrderArray = (order, models) => {
+  return order.map((requestColumn) => {
+    if (Array.isArray(requestColumn)) {
+      return parseOrderArray(requestColumn, models);
+    }
+
+    let column;
+    try {
+      column = JSON.parse(requestColumn);
+    } catch (e) {
+      column = requestColumn;
+    }
+
+    if (column.model) column.model = models[column.model];
+
+    return column;
+  });
+};
+
 export const parseOrder = (request) => {
   const { order } = request.query;
 
   if (!order) return null;
 
+  const models = getModels(request);
+  if (models.isBoom) return models;
+
   // transform to an array so sequelize will escape the input for us and
   // maintain security. See http://docs.sequelizejs.com/en/latest/docs/querying/#ordering
-  if (isString(order)) return [order.split(' ')];
+  const requestOrderColumns = isString(order) ? [order.split(' ')] : order;
 
-  for (const key of Object.keys(order)) {
-    try {
-      order[key] = JSON.parse(order[key]);
-    } catch (e) {
-      //
-    }
-  }
+  const parsedOrder = parseOrderArray(requestOrderColumns, models);
 
-  return [order];
+  return parsedOrder;
 };
 
 export const getMethod = (model, association, plural = true, method = 'get') => {
diff --git a/src/utils.test.js b/src/utils.test.js
index bd91198..178bcf0 100644
--- a/src/utils.test.js
+++ b/src/utils.test.js
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ import test from 'ava';
 import { parseLimitAndOffset, parseOrder, parseWhere } from './utils.js';
 
 test.beforeEach((t) => {
-  t.context.request = { query: {} };
+  const models = t.context.models = { User: {} };
+  t.context.request = { query: {}, models };
 });
 
 test('parseLimitAndOffset is a function', (t) => {
@@ -62,14 +63,13 @@ test('parseOrder returns order when a string', (t) => {
 });
 
 test('parseOrder returns order when json', (t) => {
-  const { request } = t.context;
-  const order = [{ model: 'User' }, 'DESC'];
+  const { request,models } = t.context;
   request.query.order = [JSON.stringify({ model: 'User' }), 'DESC'];
   request.query.thing = 'hi';
 
   t.deepEqual(
     parseOrder(request)
-    , [order]
+    , [{ model: models.User }, 'DESC']
   );
 });
 
diff --git a/test/integration-setup.js b/test/integration-setup.js
index c895343..190f958 100644
--- a/test/integration-setup.js
+++ b/test/integration-setup.js
@@ -58,11 +58,13 @@ export default (test) => {
     const { Player, Team, City } = t.context.sequelize.models;
     const city1 = await City.create({ name: 'Healdsburg' });
     const team1 = await Team.create({ name: 'Baseballs', cityId: city1.id });
+    const team2 = await Team.create({ name: 'Footballs', cityId: city1.id });
     const player1 = await Player.create({
-      name: 'Pinot', teamId: team1.id, active: true,
+      name: 'Cat', teamId: team1.id, active: true,
     });
-    const player2 = await Player.create({ name: 'Syrah', teamId: team1.id });
-    t.context.instances = { city1, team1, player1, player2 };
+    const player2 = await Player.create({ name: 'Pinot', teamId: team1.id });
+    const player3 = await Player.create({ name: 'Syrah', teamId: team2.id });
+    t.context.instances = { city1, team1, team2, player1, player2, player3 };
   });
 
   // kill the server so that we can exit and don't leak memory