diff --git a/src/Lean/Elab/Match.lean b/src/Lean/Elab/Match.lean
index 75423a6085..feea07b271 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Elab/Match.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Elab/Match.lean
@@ -709,9 +709,7 @@ where
         for indexFVarId in indicesFVar do
           if mctx.localDeclDependsOn localDecl indexFVarId then
             toAdd := toAdd.push fvarId
-    let lctx ← getLCtx
-    let indicesFVar := (indicesFVar ++ toAdd).qsort fun fvarId₁ fvarId₂ =>
-      (lctx.get! fvarId₁).index < (lctx.get! fvarId₂).index
+    let indicesFVar ← sortFVarIds (indicesFVar ++ toAdd)
     return indicesFVar.map mkFVar ++ indicesNonFVar
 
   updateMatchType (indices : Array Expr) (matchType : Expr) : TermElabM Expr := do
diff --git a/src/Lean/Elab/Tactic/BuiltinTactic.lean b/src/Lean/Elab/Tactic/BuiltinTactic.lean
index 8cce19e4b6..7b2a3803a4 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Elab/Tactic/BuiltinTactic.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Elab/Tactic/BuiltinTactic.lean
@@ -172,23 +172,12 @@ where
      replaceMainGoal [mvarId]
   | _                     => throwUnsupportedSyntax
 
-/- Sort free variables using an order `x < y` iff `x` was defined after `y` -/
-private def sortFVarIds (fvarIds : Array FVarId) : TacticM (Array FVarId) :=
-  withMainContext do
-    let lctx ← getLCtx
-    return fvarIds.qsort fun fvarId₁ fvarId₂ =>
-      match lctx.find? fvarId₁, lctx.find? fvarId₂ with
-      | some d₁, some d₂ => d₁.index > d₂.index
-      | some _,  none    => false
-      | none,    some _  => true
-      | none,    none    => Name.quickLt fvarId₁.name fvarId₂.name
-
 @[builtinTactic Lean.Parser.Tactic.clear] def evalClear : Tactic := fun stx =>
   match stx with
   | `(tactic| clear $hs*) => do
     let fvarIds ← getFVarIds hs
-    let fvarIds ← sortFVarIds fvarIds
-    for fvarId in fvarIds do
+    let fvarIds ← withMainContext <| sortFVarIds fvarIds
+    for fvarId in fvarIds.reverse do
       withMainContext do
         let mvarId ← clear (← getMainGoal) fvarId
         replaceMainGoal [mvarId]
diff --git a/src/Lean/Elab/Tactic/Induction.lean b/src/Lean/Elab/Tactic/Induction.lean
index e8e431d50f..cc11747c9e 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Elab/Tactic/Induction.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Elab/Tactic/Induction.lean
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ private def generalizeVars (mvarId : MVarId) (stx : Syntax) (targets : Array Exp
       if s.contains userFVarId then
         throwError "unnecessary 'generalizing' argument, variable '{mkFVar userFVarId}' is generalized automatically"
       s := s.insert userFVarId
-    let fvarIds ← sortFVars s
+    let fvarIds ← sortFVarIds s.toArray
     let (fvarIds, mvarId') ← Meta.revert mvarId fvarIds
     return (fvarIds.size, mvarId')
 
diff --git a/src/Lean/Meta/Basic.lean b/src/Lean/Meta/Basic.lean
index 32ac2c4698..c41eed377f 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Meta/Basic.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Meta/Basic.lean
@@ -1125,6 +1125,18 @@ def mapErrorImp (x : MetaM α) (f : MessageData → MessageData) : MetaM α := d
 @[inline] def mapError [MonadControlT MetaM m] [Monad m] (x : m α) (f : MessageData → MessageData) : m α :=
   controlAt MetaM fun runInBase => mapErrorImp (runInBase x) f
 
+/--
+  Sort free variables using an order `x < y` iff `x` was defined before `y`.
+  If a free variable is not in the local context, we use their id. -/
+def sortFVarIds (fvarIds : Array FVarId) : MetaM (Array FVarId) := do
+  let lctx ← getLCtx
+  return fvarIds.qsort fun fvarId₁ fvarId₂ =>
+    match lctx.find? fvarId₁, lctx.find? fvarId₂ with
+    | some d₁, some d₂ => d₁.index < d₂.index
+    | some _,  none    => false
+    | none,    some _  => true
+    | none,    none    => Name.quickLt fvarId₁.name fvarId₂.name
+
 end Methods
 end Meta
 
diff --git a/src/Lean/Meta/GeneralizeVars.lean b/src/Lean/Meta/GeneralizeVars.lean
index 22091d3ce2..4ee1322c6c 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Meta/GeneralizeVars.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Meta/GeneralizeVars.lean
@@ -65,14 +65,9 @@ def getFVarSetToGeneralize (targets : Array Expr) (forbidden : FVarIdSet) : Meta
         s := s.insert localDecl.fvarId
   return r
 
-def sortFVars (fvars : FVarIdSet) : MetaM (Array FVarId) := do
-  let fvarIds := fvars.fold (init := #[]) fun s fvarId => s.push fvarId
-  let lctx ← getLCtx
-  return fvarIds.qsort fun x y => (lctx.get! x).index < (lctx.get! y).index
-
 def getFVarsToGeneralize (targets : Array Expr) (forbidden : FVarIdSet := {}) : MetaM (Array FVarId) := do
   let forbidden ← mkGeneralizationForbiddenSet targets forbidden
   let s ← getFVarSetToGeneralize targets forbidden
-  sortFVars s
+  sortFVarIds s.toArray
 
 end Lean.Meta