diff --git a/backends/rtlil/rtlil_backend.cc b/backends/rtlil/rtlil_backend.cc
index adde37356..2d38982f3 100644
--- a/backends/rtlil/rtlil_backend.cc
+++ b/backends/rtlil/rtlil_backend.cc
@@ -456,8 +456,6 @@ struct RTLILBackend : public Backend {
 		}
 		extra_args(f, filename, args, argidx);
 
-		design->sort();
-
 		log("Output filename: %s\n", filename.c_str());
 
 		*f << stringf("# Generated by %s\n", yosys_maybe_version());