1 files changed, 4 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/lisp/sort.el b/lisp/sort.el
index 359067a4af3..10426fa5244 100644
--- a/lisp/sort.el
+++ b/lisp/sort.el
@@ -506,7 +506,10 @@ Use \\[untabify] to convert tabs to spaces before sorting."
           ;; Do not use it if there are any non-font-lock properties
           ;; in the region, since the sort utility would lose the
           ;; properties.
-          (let ((sort-args (list (if reverse "-rt\n" "-t\n")
+          ;; Set the field separator to tab to have the same effect as 
+          ;; sort-columns which makes sure there are no tabs in the region
+          ;; worked.
+          (let ((sort-args (list (if reverse "-rt\t" "-t\t")
                                  (format "-k1.%d,1.%d"
                                          (1+ col-start)
                                          (1+ col-end)))))