diff --git a/datafusion/optimizer/src/eliminate_sort.rs b/datafusion/optimizer/src/eliminate_sort.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6ba2ada40a7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/datafusion/optimizer/src/eliminate_sort.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+use datafusion_common::tree_node::{Transformed, TreeNode};
+use datafusion_common::Result;
+use datafusion_expr::LogicalPlan;
+
+use crate::{ApplyOrder, OptimizerConfig, OptimizerRule};
+
+/// An optimizer rule that eliminates unnecessary Sort operators in subqueries.
+#[derive(Default, Debug)]
+pub struct EliminateSort {}
+
+impl EliminateSort {
+    #[allow(missing_docs)]
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self {}
+    }
+}
+
+impl OptimizerRule for EliminateSort {
+    fn name(&self) -> &str {
+        "optimize_subquery_sort"
+    }
+
+    fn apply_order(&self) -> Option<ApplyOrder> {
+        None
+    }
+
+    fn supports_rewrite(&self) -> bool {
+        true
+    }
+
+    fn rewrite(
+        &self,
+        plan: LogicalPlan,
+        _config: &dyn OptimizerConfig,
+    ) -> Result<Transformed<LogicalPlan>> {
+        // When initializing subqueries, we examine sort options since they might be unnecessary.
+        // They are only important if the subquery result is affected by the ORDER BY statement,
+        // which can happen when we have:
+        // 1. DISTINCT ON / ARRAY_AGG ... => Handled by an `Aggregate` and its requirements.
+        // 2. RANK / ROW_NUMBER ... => Handled by a `WindowAggr` and its requirements.
+        // 3. LIMIT => Handled by a `Sort`, so we need to search for it.
+        let mut has_limit = false;
+        let new_plan = plan.transform_down(|c| {
+            if let LogicalPlan::Limit(_) = c {
+                has_limit = true;
+                return Ok(Transformed::no(c));
+            }
+            match c {
+                LogicalPlan::Sort(s) => {
+                    if !has_limit {
+                        has_limit = false;
+                        return Ok(Transformed::yes(s.input.as_ref().clone()));
+                    }
+                    Ok(Transformed::no(LogicalPlan::Sort(s)))
+                }
+                _ => Ok(Transformed::no(c)),
+            }
+        });
+        new_plan
+    }
+}
diff --git a/datafusion/optimizer/src/lib.rs b/datafusion/optimizer/src/lib.rs
index 893cb249a2a8..11a7b5c485c0 100644
--- a/datafusion/optimizer/src/lib.rs
+++ b/datafusion/optimizer/src/lib.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ pub mod eliminate_limit;
 pub mod eliminate_nested_union;
 pub mod eliminate_one_union;
 pub mod eliminate_outer_join;
+pub mod eliminate_sort;
 pub mod extract_equijoin_predicate;
 pub mod filter_null_join_keys;
 pub mod optimize_projections;
diff --git a/datafusion/optimizer/src/optimizer.rs b/datafusion/optimizer/src/optimizer.rs
index ffbb95cb7f74..2a6344e69693 100644
--- a/datafusion/optimizer/src/optimizer.rs
+++ b/datafusion/optimizer/src/optimizer.rs
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ use crate::eliminate_limit::EliminateLimit;
 use crate::eliminate_nested_union::EliminateNestedUnion;
 use crate::eliminate_one_union::EliminateOneUnion;
 use crate::eliminate_outer_join::EliminateOuterJoin;
+use crate::eliminate_sort::EliminateSort;
 use crate::extract_equijoin_predicate::ExtractEquijoinPredicate;
 use crate::filter_null_join_keys::FilterNullJoinKeys;
 use crate::optimize_projections::OptimizeProjections;
@@ -231,6 +232,7 @@ impl Optimizer {
             Arc::new(EliminateFilter::new()),
             Arc::new(EliminateCrossJoin::new()),
             Arc::new(EliminateLimit::new()),
+            Arc::new(EliminateSort::new()),
             Arc::new(PropagateEmptyRelation::new()),
             // Must be after PropagateEmptyRelation
             Arc::new(EliminateOneUnion::new()),
diff --git a/datafusion/sql/src/relation/mod.rs b/datafusion/sql/src/relation/mod.rs
index dee855f8c000..1d4f19d671ea 100644
--- a/datafusion/sql/src/relation/mod.rs
+++ b/datafusion/sql/src/relation/mod.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use crate::planner::{ContextProvider, PlannerContext, SqlToRel};
 
-use datafusion_common::tree_node::{Transformed, TreeNode};
 use datafusion_common::{
     not_impl_err, plan_err, DFSchema, Diagnostic, Result, Span, Spans, TableReference,
 };
@@ -162,11 +161,10 @@ impl<S: ContextProvider> SqlToRel<'_, S> {
             }
         };
 
-        let optimized_plan = optimize_subquery_sort(plan)?.data;
         if let Some(alias) = alias {
-            self.apply_table_alias(optimized_plan, alias)
+            self.apply_table_alias(plan, alias)
         } else {
-            Ok(optimized_plan)
+            Ok(plan)
         }
     }
 
@@ -225,30 +223,3 @@ impl<S: ContextProvider> SqlToRel<'_, S> {
         }
     }
 }
-
-fn optimize_subquery_sort(plan: LogicalPlan) -> Result<Transformed<LogicalPlan>> {
-    // When initializing subqueries, we examine sort options since they might be unnecessary.
-    // They are only important if the subquery result is affected by the ORDER BY statement,
-    // which can happen when we have:
-    // 1. DISTINCT ON / ARRAY_AGG ... => Handled by an `Aggregate` and its requirements.
-    // 2. RANK / ROW_NUMBER ... => Handled by a `WindowAggr` and its requirements.
-    // 3. LIMIT => Handled by a `Sort`, so we need to search for it.
-    let mut has_limit = false;
-    let new_plan = plan.transform_down(|c| {
-        if let LogicalPlan::Limit(_) = c {
-            has_limit = true;
-            return Ok(Transformed::no(c));
-        }
-        match c {
-            LogicalPlan::Sort(s) => {
-                if !has_limit {
-                    has_limit = false;
-                    return Ok(Transformed::yes(s.input.as_ref().clone()));
-                }
-                Ok(Transformed::no(LogicalPlan::Sort(s)))
-            }
-            _ => Ok(Transformed::no(c)),
-        }
-    });
-    new_plan
-}