diff --git a/internal/ghcr/client.go b/internal/ghcr/client.go
index ba97364..42c12e0 100644
--- a/internal/ghcr/client.go
+++ b/internal/ghcr/client.go
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ func (c *Client) FullImage() string {
 // creation time — the same order GitHub shows package versions. Tags whose
 // creation time can't be resolved keep a semver-descending fallback order
 // after the dated ones. The tags that "latest", "nightly" and "main" point to
-// are marked Latest, Nightly and Main; the Latest row is moved to the front.
+// are marked Latest, Nightly and Main and moved to the front in that order.
 func (c *Client) ListTags(ctx context.Context) ([]ImageTag, error) {
 	registryToken, err := c.fetchRegistryToken(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -136,7 +136,6 @@ func (c *Client) ListTags(ctx context.Context) ([]ImageTag, error) {
 	base := c.FullImage()
 	result := make([]ImageTag, len(infos))
 	flagged := make([]bool, len(channelTags))
-	latestFound := false
 	for i, info := range infos {
 		r := ImageTag{Tag: info.tag, Image: base + ":" + info.tag}
 		if !info.created.IsZero() {
@@ -150,7 +149,6 @@ func (c *Client) ListTags(ctx context.Context) ([]ImageTag, error) {
 			switch channelTags[k] {
 			case "latest":
 				r.Latest = true
-				latestFound = true
 			case "nightly":
 				r.Nightly = true
 			case "main":
@@ -160,19 +158,34 @@ func (c *Client) ListTags(ctx context.Context) ([]ImageTag, error) {
 		result[i] = r
 	}
 
-	// Ensure the latest-marked tag is first so frontends can default to result[0].
-	if latestFound {
-		for i, r := range result {
-			if r.Latest && i != 0 {
-				result[0], result[i] = result[i], result[0]
-				break
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
+	orderChannelsFirst(result)
 	return result, nil
 }
 
+// orderChannelsFirst moves the channel rows to the front in the order latest,
+// nightly, main, so frontends can default to result[0]. The stable sort keeps
+// the remaining rows in their existing newest-first order.
+func orderChannelsFirst(tags []ImageTag) {
+	sort.SliceStable(tags, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return channelRank(tags[i]) < channelRank(tags[j])
+	})
+}
+
+// channelRank is a row's sort rank by its highest-priority channel flag;
+// rows no channel points to rank last.
+func channelRank(t ImageTag) int {
+	switch {
+	case t.Latest:
+		return 0
+	case t.Nightly:
+		return 1
+	case t.Main:
+		return 2
+	default:
+		return 3
+	}
+}
+
 // tagInfo carries what sorting and latest-matching need per tag.
 type tagInfo struct {
 	tag     string
diff --git a/internal/ghcr/client_test.go b/internal/ghcr/client_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ee6214
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/ghcr/client_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+package ghcr
+
+import (
+	"slices"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestOrderChannelsFirst(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		in   []ImageTag
+		want []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "nightly newest, latest in the middle",
+			in: []ImageTag{
+				{Tag: "f16a2fe", Nightly: true},
+				{Tag: "6456f7b", Main: true},
+				{Tag: "cf959b0"},
+				{Tag: "eucalyptus", Latest: true},
+				{Tag: "dogwood-r1"},
+				{Tag: "dogwood"},
+			},
+			want: []string{"eucalyptus", "f16a2fe", "6456f7b", "cf959b0", "dogwood-r1", "dogwood"},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nightly and main on one build",
+			in: []ImageTag{
+				{Tag: "a"},
+				{Tag: "b", Nightly: true, Main: true},
+				{Tag: "c", Latest: true},
+				{Tag: "d"},
+			},
+			want: []string{"c", "b", "a", "d"},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "no nightly",
+			in: []ImageTag{
+				{Tag: "a"},
+				{Tag: "b", Main: true},
+				{Tag: "c"},
+				{Tag: "d", Latest: true},
+			},
+			want: []string{"d", "b", "a", "c"},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "no channels",
+			in:   []ImageTag{{Tag: "a"}, {Tag: "b"}, {Tag: "c"}},
+			want: []string{"a", "b", "c"},
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			orderChannelsFirst(tt.in)
+			var got []string
+			for _, r := range tt.in {
+				got = append(got, r.Tag)
+			}
+			if !slices.Equal(got, tt.want) {
+				t.Errorf("got %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}