diff --git a/src/stores/room-list/RoomListStore.ts b/src/stores/room-list/RoomListStore.ts
index 2048aad080..e23c60be30 100644
--- a/src/stores/room-list/RoomListStore.ts
+++ b/src/stores/room-list/RoomListStore.ts
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ export class RoomListStoreClass extends AsyncStoreWithClient<IState> implements
 
     // logic must match calculateTagSorting
     private calculateListOrder(tagId: TagID): ListAlgorithm {
-        const defaultOrder = ListAlgorithm.Importance;
+        const defaultOrder = ListAlgorithm.Natural;
         const definedOrder = this.getListOrder(tagId);
         const storedOrder = this.getStoredListOrder(tagId);
 
diff --git a/test/stores/room-list/RoomListStore-test.ts b/test/stores/room-list/RoomListStore-test.ts
index aaec694213..5493ef8927 100644
--- a/test/stores/room-list/RoomListStore-test.ts
+++ b/test/stores/room-list/RoomListStore-test.ts
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ describe("RoomListStore", () => {
     });
 
     it.each(OrderedDefaultTagIDs)("defaults to activity ordering for %s=", (tagId) => {
-        expect(RoomListStore.instance.getListOrder(tagId)).toBe(ListAlgorithm.Importance);
+        expect(RoomListStore.instance.getListOrder(tagId)).toBe(ListAlgorithm.Natural);
     });
 
     function createStore(): { store: RoomListStoreClass; handleRoomUpdate: jest.Mock<any, any> } {