diff --git a/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/reader.go b/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/reader.go
index accd1932e53..dbf9d60276e 100644
--- a/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/reader.go
+++ b/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/reader.go
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ func NewSpanReader(p SpanReaderParams) *SpanReader {
 			p.Logger,
 			getTimeRangeIndexFn(p.Archive, p.UseReadWriteAliases, p.RemoteReadClusters),
 		),
-		sourceFn:            getSourceFn(p.Archive, p.MaxDocCount),
+		sourceFn:            getSourceFn(p.MaxDocCount),
 		maxDocCount:         p.MaxDocCount,
 		useReadWriteAliases: p.UseReadWriteAliases,
 		logger:              p.Logger,
@@ -202,16 +202,13 @@ func addRemoteReadClusters(fn timeRangeIndexFn, remoteReadClusters []string) tim
 	}
 }
 
-func getSourceFn(archive bool, maxDocCount int) sourceFn {
+func getSourceFn(maxDocCount int) sourceFn {
 	return func(query elastic.Query, nextTime uint64) *elastic.SearchSource {
-		s := elastic.NewSearchSource().
+		return elastic.NewSearchSource().
 			Query(query).
-			Size(maxDocCount)
-		if !archive {
-			s.Sort("startTime", true).
-				SearchAfter(nextTime)
-		}
-		return s
+			Size(maxDocCount).
+			Sort("startTime", true).
+			SearchAfter(nextTime)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/reader_test.go b/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/reader_test.go
index 3b292008dcd..82e3f8531bf 100644
--- a/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/reader_test.go
+++ b/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/reader_test.go
@@ -1339,7 +1339,7 @@ func TestBuildTraceByIDQuery(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestTerminateAfterNotSet(t *testing.T) {
-	srcFn := getSourceFn(false, 99)
+	srcFn := getSourceFn(99)
 	searchSource := srcFn(elastic.NewMatchAllQuery(), 1)
 	sp, err := searchSource.Source()
 	require.NoError(t, err)