diff --git a/opentech/apply/funds/models.py b/opentech/apply/funds/models.py
index f7f145dd09085dd42d43334c90857805115a1bbe..f2dec89218b8c4f8674f59e240262b40ff386803 100644
--- a/opentech/apply/funds/models.py
+++ b/opentech/apply/funds/models.py
@@ -468,7 +468,10 @@ class JSONOrderable(models.QuerySet):
             )
 
         def build_json_order_by(field):
-            if field.replace('-', '') not in REQUIRED_BLOCK_NAMES:
+            try:
+                if field.replace('-', '') not in REQUIRED_BLOCK_NAMES:
+                    return field
+            except AttributeError:
                 return field
 
             if field[0] == '-':