diff --git a/prqlc/prqlc/src/semantic/resolver/flatten.rs b/prqlc/prqlc/src/semantic/resolver/flatten.rs
index d28aafb80e82..37cd2004ec99 100644
--- a/prqlc/prqlc/src/semantic/resolver/flatten.rs
+++ b/prqlc/prqlc/src/semantic/resolver/flatten.rs
@@ -142,7 +142,27 @@ impl PlFold for Flattener {
                             ..pipeline
                         });
                     }
-                    kind => (self.fold_expr(*t.input)?, fold_transform_kind(self, kind)?),
+                    kind => {
+                        let input = self.fold_expr(*t.input)?;
+
+                        // For join/append, folding the `with` sub-pipeline (which happens
+                        // inside `fold_transform_kind`) may set `self.sort` to the sub-pipeline's
+                        // sort. That sort references columns of the joined relation, which are not
+                        // in scope for downstream transforms in the outer pipeline. Per the PRQL
+                        // spec a join retains the left (input) side's order, so snapshot the
+                        // input's sort and restore it after folding the kind.
+                        let input_sort =
+                            matches!(kind, TransformKind::Join { .. } | TransformKind::Append(_))
+                                .then(|| self.sort.clone());
+
+                        let kind = fold_transform_kind(self, kind)?;
+
+                        if let Some(input_sort) = input_sort {
+                            self.sort = input_sort;
+                        }
+
+                        (input, kind)
+                    }
                 };
 
                 // In case we're appending or joining another pipeline, we do not want to apply the
diff --git a/prqlc/prqlc/src/sql/gen_query.rs b/prqlc/prqlc/src/sql/gen_query.rs
index b0bbabd82147..cbd0589e77ee 100644
--- a/prqlc/prqlc/src/sql/gen_query.rs
+++ b/prqlc/prqlc/src/sql/gen_query.rs
@@ -904,4 +904,87 @@ mod test {
         let err = crate::tests::compile(query).unwrap_err();
         assert!(err.to_string().contains("not accessible in this context"));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_sort_both_branches_join_take() {
+        // A `sort` on both the left and the joined branch (both wrapped in CTEs
+        // by a preceding `group`), followed by `take`, must not leak the joined
+        // branch's sort column into the implicit ORDER BY synthesized for the
+        // LIMIT. The ORDER BY must reference the left CTE alias, not the joined
+        // branch's out-of-scope source table.
+        let query = r#"
+        from foo.bar
+        group {a} (aggregate {x = count c})
+        sort {a}
+        join side:left (
+          from foo.bar
+          group {a} (aggregate {y = count c})
+          sort {a}
+          derive {a_r = a}
+          select {a_r, y}
+        ) (this.a == that.a_r)
+        derive {g = a}
+        take 10
+        select {g, x, y}
+        "#;
+
+        assert_snapshot!(crate::tests::compile(query).unwrap(), @r"
+        WITH table_1 AS (
+          SELECT
+            COUNT(*) AS x,
+            a
+          FROM
+            foo.bar
+          GROUP BY
+            a
+        ),
+        table_3 AS (
+          SELECT
+            COUNT(*) AS y,
+            a
+          FROM
+            foo.bar
+          GROUP BY
+            a
+        ),
+        table_4 AS (
+          SELECT
+            a AS a_r,
+            y,
+            a
+          FROM
+            table_3
+        ),
+        table_0 AS (
+          SELECT
+            a_r,
+            y,
+            a
+          FROM
+            table_4
+        ),
+        table_2 AS (
+          SELECT
+            table_1.a AS g,
+            table_1.x,
+            table_0.y,
+            table_1.a
+          FROM
+            table_1
+            LEFT OUTER JOIN table_0 ON table_1.a = table_0.a_r
+          ORDER BY
+            table_1.a
+          LIMIT
+            10
+        )
+        SELECT
+          g,
+          x,
+          y
+        FROM
+          table_2
+        ORDER BY
+          g
+        ");
+    }
 }