diff --git a/lib/notmuch.h b/lib/notmuch.h
index 6469744d..d0b0d9e4 100644
--- a/lib/notmuch.h
+++ b/lib/notmuch.h
@@ -299,8 +299,8 @@ notmuch_query_create (notmuch_database_t *database,
 
 /* Sort values for notmuch_query_set_sort */
 typedef enum {
-    NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE_OLDEST_FIRST,
-    NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE_NEWEST_FIRST,
+    NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE,
+    NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE_REVERSE,
     NOTMUCH_SORT_MESSAGE_ID
 } notmuch_sort_t;
 
diff --git a/lib/query.cc b/lib/query.cc
index e853d4ec..7c1df90c 100644
--- a/lib/query.cc
+++ b/lib/query.cc
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ notmuch_query_create (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 
     query->query_string = talloc_strdup (query, query_string);
 
-    query->sort = NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE_OLDEST_FIRST;
+    query->sort = NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE;
 
     return query;
 }
@@ -123,10 +123,10 @@ notmuch_query_search_messages (notmuch_query_t *query,
 	}
 
 	switch (query->sort) {
-	case NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE_OLDEST_FIRST:
+	case NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE:
 	    enquire.set_sort_by_value (NOTMUCH_VALUE_TIMESTAMP, FALSE);
 	    break;
-	case NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE_NEWEST_FIRST:
+	case NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE_REVERSE:
 	    enquire.set_sort_by_value (NOTMUCH_VALUE_TIMESTAMP, TRUE);
 	    break;
 	case NOTMUCH_SORT_MESSAGE_ID:
diff --git a/lib/thread.cc b/lib/thread.cc
index df1d0db7..ffecc9d0 100644
--- a/lib/thread.cc
+++ b/lib/thread.cc
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ _notmuch_thread_create (void *ctx,
     thread->oldest = 0;
     thread->newest = 0;
 
-    notmuch_query_set_sort (thread_id_query, NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE_OLDEST_FIRST);
+    notmuch_query_set_sort (thread_id_query, NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE);
 
     for (messages = notmuch_query_search_messages (thread_id_query, 0, -1);
 	 notmuch_messages_has_more (messages);
diff --git a/notmuch-search.c b/notmuch-search.c
index a0a71bbd..8db09c77 100644
--- a/notmuch-search.c
+++ b/notmuch-search.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ notmuch_search_command (void *ctx, int argc, char *argv[])
     time_t date;
     int i, first = 0, max_threads = -1;
     char *opt, *end;
+    notmuch_sort_t sort = NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE;
 
     for (i = 0; i < argc && argv[i][0] == '-'; i++) {
 	if (strcmp (argv[i], "--") == 0) {
@@ -54,6 +55,11 @@ notmuch_search_command (void *ctx, int argc, char *argv[])
 		fprintf (stderr, "Invalid value for --max-threads: %s\n", opt);
 		return 1;
 	    }
+	} else if (strcmp (argv[i], "--reverse") == 0) {
+	    sort = NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE_REVERSE;
+	} else {
+	    fprintf (stderr, "Unrecognized option: %s\n", argv[i]);
+	    return 1;
 	}
     }
 
@@ -80,6 +86,8 @@ notmuch_search_command (void *ctx, int argc, char *argv[])
 	return 1;
     }
 
+    notmuch_query_set_sort (query, sort);
+
     for (threads = notmuch_query_search_threads (query, first, max_threads);
 	 notmuch_threads_has_more (threads);
 	 notmuch_threads_advance (threads))
@@ -88,7 +96,11 @@ notmuch_search_command (void *ctx, int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	thread = notmuch_threads_get (threads);
 
-	date = notmuch_thread_get_oldest_date (thread);
+	if (sort == NOTMUCH_SORT_DATE)
+	    date = notmuch_thread_get_oldest_date (thread);
+	else
+	    date = notmuch_thread_get_newest_date (thread);
+
 	relative_date = notmuch_time_relative_date (ctx, date);
 
 	printf ("thread:%s %12s [%d/%d] %s; %s",