diff --git a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/InstallPluginCommandTests.java b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/InstallPluginCommandTests.java
index 22b2ef39a88..14910ffcdeb 100644
--- a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/InstallPluginCommandTests.java
+++ b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/InstallPluginCommandTests.java
@@ -36,8 +36,10 @@ import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.PosixPermissionsResetter;
 import org.junit.After;
 
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.StringReader;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
@@ -532,6 +534,29 @@ public class InstallPluginCommandTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertTrue(e.getMessage(), e.getMessage().contains("resolving outside of plugin directory"));
     }
 
+    public void testOfficialPluginsHelpSorted() throws Exception {
+        MockTerminal terminal = new MockTerminal();
+        new InstallPluginCommand().main(new String[] { "--help" }, terminal);
+        try (BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new StringReader(terminal.getOutput()))) {
+            String line = reader.readLine();
+
+            // first find the beginning of our list of official plugins
+            while (line.endsWith("may be installed by name:") == false) {
+                line = reader.readLine();
+            }
+
+            // now check each line compares greater than the last, until we reach an empty line
+            String prev = reader.readLine();
+            line = reader.readLine();
+            while (line != null && line.trim().isEmpty() == false) {
+                assertTrue(prev + " < " + line, prev.compareTo(line) < 0);
+                prev = line;
+                line = reader.readLine();
+            }
+        }
+        terminal.getOutput();
+    }
+
     // TODO: test batch flag?
     // TODO: test checksum (need maven/official below)
     // TODO: test maven, official, and staging install...need tests with fixtures...