diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index dc193ff2c4..50e7cab888 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ htmlcov/
 coverage.xml
 *,cover
 .hypothesis/
+.reports/
 
 # Flask stuff:
 instance/
diff --git a/beets/dbcore/query.py b/beets/dbcore/query.py
index ffa89168ec..d2334c0651 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/query.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/query.py
@@ -1008,8 +1008,8 @@ def order_clause(self) -> str:
         if self.case_insensitive:
             field = (
                 "(CASE "
-                'WHEN TYPEOF({0})="text" THEN LOWER({0}) '
-                'WHEN TYPEOF({0})="blob" THEN LOWER({0}) '
+                "WHEN TYPEOF({0})='text' THEN LOWER({0}) "
+                "WHEN TYPEOF({0})='blob' THEN LOWER({0}) "
                 "ELSE {0} END)".format(self.field)
             )
         else:
diff --git a/beets/library.py b/beets/library.py
index 367b184ef8..20b30bcd61 100644
--- a/beets/library.py
+++ b/beets/library.py
@@ -308,11 +308,8 @@ def order_clause(self):
         order = "ASC" if self.ascending else "DESC"
         field = "albumartist" if self.album else "artist"
         collate = "COLLATE NOCASE" if self.case_insensitive else ""
-        return (
-            "(CASE {0}_sort WHEN NULL THEN {0} "
-            'WHEN "" THEN {0} '
-            "ELSE {0}_sort END) {1} {2}"
-        ).format(field, collate, order)
+
+        return f"COALESCE(NULLIF({field}_sort, ''), {field}) {collate} {order}"
 
     def sort(self, objs):
         if self.album:
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 6823f5cce3..9f144c66d2 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ New features:
 
 Bug fixes:
 
+* :bug:`4709`
 * :doc:`/plugins/lastimport`: Improve error handling in the `process_tracks` function and enable it to be used with other plugins.
 * :doc:`/plugins/spotify`: Improve handling of ConnectionError.
 * :doc:`/plugins/deezer`: Improve Deezer plugin error handling and set requests timeout to 10 seconds.
diff --git a/test/test_library.py b/test/test_library.py
index c9d0440b51..d161874051 100644
--- a/test/test_library.py
+++ b/test/test_library.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def test_store_changes_database_value(self):
         self.i.store()
         new_year = (
             self.lib._connection()
-            .execute("select year from items where " 'title="the title"')
+            .execute("select year from items where title = ?", (self.i.title,))
             .fetchone()["year"]
         )
         self.assertEqual(new_year, 1987)
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def test_store_only_writes_dirty_fields(self):
         self.i.store()
         new_genre = (
             self.lib._connection()
-            .execute("select genre from items where " 'title="the title"')
+            .execute("select genre from items where title = ?", (self.i.title,))
             .fetchone()["genre"]
         )
         self.assertEqual(new_genre, original_genre)
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ def test_item_add_inserts_row(self):
         new_grouping = (
             self.lib._connection()
             .execute(
-                "select grouping from items " 'where composer="the composer"'
+                "select grouping from items where composer = ?",
+                (self.i.composer,),
             )
             .fetchone()["grouping"]
         )
@@ -119,7 +120,8 @@ def test_library_add_path_inserts_row(self):
         new_grouping = (
             self.lib._connection()
             .execute(
-                "select grouping from items " 'where composer="the composer"'
+                "select grouping from items where composer = ?",
+                (self.i.composer,),
             )
             .fetchone()["grouping"]
         )