diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index 3f32fa18af..bc45edbd66 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -137,14 +137,16 @@ module ApplicationHelper
 
   # Renders flash messages
   def render_flash_messages
-    flash
+    messages = flash
       .reject { |k,_| k.start_with? '_' }
-      .map { |k, v| render_flash_message(k, v) }.join.html_safe
+      .map { |k, v| render_flash_message(k, v) }
+
+    safe_join messages, "\n"
   end
 
   def join_flash_messages(messages)
     if messages.respond_to?(:join)
-      messages.join('<br />').html_safe
+      safe_join(messages, '<br />')
     else
       messages
     end
diff --git a/spec/features/projects/projects_index_spec.rb b/spec/features/projects/projects_index_spec.rb
index 15dd7ad9b9..f037556321 100644
--- a/spec/features/projects/projects_index_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/projects/projects_index_spec.rb
@@ -160,6 +160,18 @@ describe 'Projects index page',
             .to have_selector('td', text: news.created_on.strftime('%m/%d/%Y'))
         end
       end
+
+      scenario 'test that flash sortBy is being escaped' do
+        login_as(admin)
+        visit projects_path(sortBy: "[[\"><script src='/foobar.js'></script>\",\"\"]]")
+
+        error_text = "Orders ><script src='/foobar js'></script> is not set to one of the allowed values. and does not exist."
+        error_html = "Orders &gt;&lt;script src='/foobar js'&gt;&lt;/script&gt; is not set to one of the allowed values. and does not exist."
+        expect(page).to have_selector('.flash.error', text: error_text)
+
+        error_container = page.find('.flash.error')
+        expect(error_container['innerHTML']).to include error_html
+      end
     end
   end