diff --git a/backend/src/database/repositories/memberRepository.ts b/backend/src/database/repositories/memberRepository.ts
index 8bb16aae00..da471d8f3b 100644
--- a/backend/src/database/repositories/memberRepository.ts
+++ b/backend/src/database/repositories/memberRepository.ts
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ class MemberRepository {
             AND ms."segmentId" IN (:segmentIds)
         ) AS "membersToMerge" 
       ORDER BY 
-        "membersToMerge"."joinedAt" DESC 
+        "membersToMerge"."similarity" DESC 
       LIMIT :limit OFFSET :offset
     `,
       {
diff --git a/backend/src/services/__tests__/tenantService.test.ts b/backend/src/services/__tests__/tenantService.test.ts
index 95155e4d4a..8ac680bbfc 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/__tests__/tenantService.test.ts
+++ b/backend/src/services/__tests__/tenantService.test.ts
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ describe('TenantService tests', () => {
       const member3 = await memberService.upsert(memberToCreate3)
       let member4 = await memberService.upsert(memberToCreate4)
 
-      await memberService.addToMerge([{ members: [member1.id, member2.id], similarity: null }])
-      await memberService.addToMerge([{ members: [member3.id, member4.id], similarity: null }])
+      await memberService.addToMerge([{ members: [member1.id, member2.id], similarity: 1 }])
+      await memberService.addToMerge([{ members: [member3.id, member4.id], similarity: 0.5 }])
 
       member2 = await memberService.findById(member2.id)
       member4 = await memberService.findById(member4.id)