diff --git a/.betterer.results b/.betterer.results
index a695cf94129..061a3280b21 100644
--- a/.betterer.results
+++ b/.betterer.results
@@ -923,12 +923,6 @@ exports[`better eslint`] = {
     "packages/grafana-ui/src/components/VizLegend/VizLegendListItem.tsx:5381": [
       [0, 0, 0, "Use data-testid for E2E selectors instead of aria-label", "0"]
     ],
-    "packages/grafana-ui/src/components/VizLegend/VizLegendTable.tsx:5381": [
-      [0, 0, 0, "Do not use any type assertions.", "0"],
-      [0, 0, 0, "Do not use any type assertions.", "1"],
-      [0, 0, 0, "Do not use any type assertions.", "2"],
-      [0, 0, 0, "Do not use any type assertions.", "3"]
-    ],
     "packages/grafana-ui/src/components/VizLegend/types.ts:5381": [
       [0, 0, 0, "Unexpected any. Specify a different type.", "0"],
       [0, 0, 0, "Unexpected any. Specify a different type.", "1"]
diff --git a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/VizLegend/VizLegendTable.tsx b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/VizLegend/VizLegendTable.tsx
index 3a97ed9dfa0..6d289dd1cc7 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/VizLegend/VizLegendTable.tsx
+++ b/packages/grafana-ui/src/components/VizLegend/VizLegendTable.tsx
@@ -44,12 +44,10 @@ export const VizLegendTable = <T extends unknown>({
   }
 
   if (sortKey != null) {
-    let itemVals = new Map<VizLegendItem, string | number>();
+    let itemVals = new Map<VizLegendItem, number>();
 
     items.forEach((item) => {
-      if (sortKey === nameSortKey) {
-        itemVals.set(item, item.label);
-      } else if (item.getDisplayValues) {
+      if (sortKey !== nameSortKey && item.getDisplayValues) {
         const stat = item.getDisplayValues().find((stat) => stat.title === sortKey);
         const val = stat == null || Number.isNaN(stat.numeric) ? -Infinity : stat.numeric;
         itemVals.set(item, val);
@@ -61,16 +59,13 @@ export const VizLegendTable = <T extends unknown>({
     if (sortKey === nameSortKey) {
       // string sort
       items.sort((a, b) => {
-        let aVal = itemVals.get(a) as string;
-        let bVal = itemVals.get(b) as string;
-
-        return sortMult * naturalCompare(aVal, bVal);
+        return sortMult * naturalCompare(a.label, b.label);
       });
     } else {
       // numeric sort
       items.sort((a, b) => {
-        let aVal = itemVals.get(a) as number;
-        let bVal = itemVals.get(b) as number;
+        const aVal = itemVals.get(a) ?? 0;
+        const bVal = itemVals.get(b) ?? 0;
 
         return sortMult * (aVal - bVal);
       });