diff --git a/addons/website_forum/controllers/main.py b/addons/website_forum/controllers/main.py
index e5951198855..0d93d062fce 100644
--- a/addons/website_forum/controllers/main.py
+++ b/addons/website_forum/controllers/main.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ from odoo.addons.website.models.ir_http import sitemap_qs2dom
 from odoo.addons.website_profile.controllers.main import WebsiteProfile
 from odoo.addons.portal.controllers.portal import _build_url_w_params
 
+from odoo.exceptions import UserError
 from odoo.http import request
 
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -107,8 +108,9 @@ class WebsiteForum(WebsiteProfile):
             # check that sorting is valid
             # retro-compatibily for V8 and google links
             try:
+                sorting = werkzeug.urls.url_unquote_plus(sorting)
                 Post._generate_order_by(sorting, None)
-            except ValueError:
+            except (UserError, ValueError):
                 sorting = False
 
         if not sorting: