diff --git a/dask_sql/physical/utils/sort.py b/dask_sql/physical/utils/sort.py
index 5022b5cd4..0e4cc9d85 100644
--- a/dask_sql/physical/utils/sort.py
+++ b/dask_sql/physical/utils/sort.py
@@ -50,33 +50,27 @@ def apply_sort(
         except ValueError:
             pass
 
-    # Dask doesn't natively support multi-column sorting;
-    # we work around this by initially sorting by the first
-    # column then handling the rest with `map_partitions`
-    df = df.sort_values(
+    # if standard `sort_values` can't handle ascending / null position params,
+    # we extend it using our custom sort function
+    return df.sort_values(
         by=sort_columns[0],
         ascending=sort_ascending[0],
         na_position="first" if sort_null_first[0] else "last",
+        sort_function=make_pickable_without_dask_sql(sort_partition_func),
+        sort_function_kwargs={
+            "sort_columns": sort_columns,
+            "sort_ascending": sort_ascending,
+            "sort_null_first": sort_null_first,
+        },
     ).persist()
 
-    # sort the remaining columns if given
-    if len(sort_columns) > 1:
-        df = df.map_partitions(
-            make_pickable_without_dask_sql(sort_partition_func),
-            meta=df,
-            sort_columns=sort_columns,
-            sort_ascending=sort_ascending,
-            sort_null_first=sort_null_first,
-        ).persist()
-
-    return df
-
 
 def sort_partition_func(
     partition: pd.DataFrame,
     sort_columns: List[str],
     sort_ascending: List[bool],
     sort_null_first: List[bool],
+    **kwargs,
 ):
     if partition.empty:
         return partition