diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/engine/memory_sort.go b/go/vt/vtgate/engine/memory_sort.go
index 6d2c36682ad..b896b303923 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/engine/memory_sort.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/engine/memory_sort.go
@@ -63,17 +63,6 @@ func (ms *MemorySort) SetTruncateColumnCount(count int) {
 	ms.TruncateColumnCount = count
 }
 
-func PanicHandler(err *error) {
-	if r := recover(); r != nil {
-		badness, ok := r.(error)
-		if !ok {
-			panic(r)
-		}
-
-		*err = badness
-	}
-}
-
 // TryExecute satisfies the Primitive interface.
 func (ms *MemorySort) TryExecute(ctx context.Context, vcursor VCursor, bindVars map[string]*querypb.BindVariable, wantfields bool) (*sqltypes.Result, error) {
 	count, err := ms.fetchCount(ctx, vcursor, bindVars)
@@ -97,7 +86,7 @@ func (ms *MemorySort) TryExecute(ctx context.Context, vcursor VCursor, bindVars
 
 // TryStreamExecute satisfies the Primitive interface.
 func (ms *MemorySort) TryStreamExecute(ctx context.Context, vcursor VCursor, bindVars map[string]*querypb.BindVariable, wantfields bool, callback func(*sqltypes.Result) error) (err error) {
-	defer PanicHandler(&err)
+	defer evalengine.PanicHandler(&err)
 
 	count, err := ms.fetchCount(ctx, vcursor, bindVars)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -117,7 +106,6 @@ func (ms *MemorySort) TryStreamExecute(ctx context.Context, vcursor VCursor, bin
 			if err := cb(&sqltypes.Result{Fields: qr.Fields}); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			sorter.SetFields(qr.Fields)
 		}
 		for _, row := range qr.Rows {
 			sorter.Push(row)
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/engine/merge_sort.go b/go/vt/vtgate/engine/merge_sort.go
index 2135d00b633..3c26a383594 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/engine/merge_sort.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/engine/merge_sort.go
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func (ms *MergeSort) GetFields(ctx context.Context, vcursor VCursor, bindVars ma
 
 // TryStreamExecute performs a streaming exec.
 func (ms *MergeSort) TryStreamExecute(ctx context.Context, vcursor VCursor, bindVars map[string]*querypb.BindVariable, wantfields bool, callback func(*sqltypes.Result) error) (err error) {
-	defer PanicHandler(&err)
+	defer evalengine.PanicHandler(&err)
 
 	var cancel context.CancelFunc
 	ctx, cancel = context.WithCancel(ctx)
@@ -104,7 +104,6 @@ func (ms *MergeSort) TryStreamExecute(ctx context.Context, vcursor VCursor, bind
 		if err := callback(&sqltypes.Result{Fields: fields}); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		merge.SetFields(fields)
 	}
 
 	var errs []error
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/evalengine/api_compare.go b/go/vt/vtgate/evalengine/api_compare.go
index 195a38d5422..6d6629ea287 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/evalengine/api_compare.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/evalengine/api_compare.go
@@ -311,23 +311,15 @@ type Sorter struct {
 	Compare Comparison
 	Limit   int
 
-	weights []tinyWeighter
-	rows    []sqltypes.Row
-	heap    bool
+	rows []sqltypes.Row
+	heap bool
 }
 
 func (s *Sorter) Len() int {
 	return len(s.rows)
 }
 
-func (s *Sorter) SetFields(f []*querypb.Field) {
-	s.weights = s.Compare.tinyWeighters(f)
-}
-
 func (s *Sorter) Push(row sqltypes.Row) {
-	for _, w := range s.weights {
-		w.apply(&row[w.col])
-	}
 	if len(s.rows) < s.Limit {
 		s.rows = append(s.rows, row)
 		return
@@ -367,9 +359,8 @@ type mergeRow struct {
 type Merger struct {
 	Compare Comparison
 
-	weights []tinyWeighter
-	rows    []mergeRow
-	less    func(a, b mergeRow) bool
+	rows []mergeRow
+	less func(a, b mergeRow) bool
 }
 
 func (m *Merger) Len() int {
@@ -383,10 +374,6 @@ func (m *Merger) Init() {
 	heapify(m.rows, m.less)
 }
 
-func (m *Merger) SetFields(f []*querypb.Field) {
-	m.weights = m.Compare.tinyWeighters(f)
-}
-
 func (m *Merger) Push(row sqltypes.Row, source int) {
 	m.rows = append(m.rows, mergeRow{row, source})
 	if m.less != nil {