diff --git a/src/qgsattributetable.cpp b/src/qgsattributetable.cpp
index c876bc36d75..70158e788cd 100644
--- a/src/qgsattributetable.cpp
+++ b/src/qgsattributetable.cpp
@@ -237,6 +237,10 @@ void QgsAttributeTable::qsort(int lower, int upper, int col, bool ascending, boo
     QString v;
     if(upper>lower)
     {
+	//chose a random element (this avoids n^2 worst case)
+	int element=double(rand())/RAND_MAX*(upper-lower)+lower;
+	
+	swapRows(element,upper);
 	v=text(upper,col);
 	i=lower-1;
 	j=upper;