diff --git a/plugins/woocommerce-admin/includes/api/class-wc-admin-rest-reports-categories-controller.php b/plugins/woocommerce-admin/includes/api/class-wc-admin-rest-reports-categories-controller.php
index 2b56213bff3..3aa23d33d49 100644
--- a/plugins/woocommerce-admin/includes/api/class-wc-admin-rest-reports-categories-controller.php
+++ b/plugins/woocommerce-admin/includes/api/class-wc-admin-rest-reports-categories-controller.php
@@ -252,9 +252,9 @@ class WC_Admin_REST_Reports_Categories_Controller extends WC_REST_Reports_Contro
 		$params['orderby']       = array(
 			'description'       => __( 'Sort collection by object attribute.', 'wc-admin' ),
 			'type'              => 'string',
-			'default'           => 'date',
+			'default'           => 'category_id',
 			'enum'              => array(
-				'date',
+				'category_id',
 				'items_sold',
 				'net_revenue',
 				'orders_count',
diff --git a/plugins/woocommerce-admin/includes/data-stores/class-wc-admin-reports-categories-data-store.php b/plugins/woocommerce-admin/includes/data-stores/class-wc-admin-reports-categories-data-store.php
index a93953d75ca..9cee07babe8 100644
--- a/plugins/woocommerce-admin/includes/data-stores/class-wc-admin-reports-categories-data-store.php
+++ b/plugins/woocommerce-admin/includes/data-stores/class-wc-admin-reports-categories-data-store.php
@@ -115,20 +115,6 @@ class WC_Admin_Reports_Categories_Data_Store extends WC_Admin_Reports_Data_Store
 		return $included_categories_str;
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Maps ordering specified by the user to columns in the database/fields in the data.
-	 *
-	 * @param string $order_by Sorting criterion.
-	 * @return string
-	 */
-	protected function normalize_order_by( $order_by ) {
-		if ( 'date' === $order_by ) {
-			return 'date_created';
-		}
-
-		return $order_by;
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * Compares values in 2 arrays based on criterion specified when called via sort_records.
 	 *