diff --git a/js/dataTables.tree-grouping.js b/js/dataTables.tree-grouping.js
index 32886b3870..2369e869e0 100644
--- a/js/dataTables.tree-grouping.js
+++ b/js/dataTables.tree-grouping.js
@@ -196,9 +196,12 @@ var iTopDataTableTreeGrouping = (function ($) {
 			// Friendly name is always loaded; it sorts better than the numeric DB id
 			return sMData.replace(/\/_key_$/, '/friendlyname');
 		}
-		// External key attributes store a numeric ID in /raw — use /friendlyname instead
+		// External/hierarchical key attributes store a numeric ID in "/raw", use "/friendlyname" instead.
+		// AttributeHierarchicalKey extends AttributeExternalKey but its PHP class name does not contain
+		// "ExternalKey", hence the separate check.
 		if (oCol.metadata && typeof oCol.metadata.attribute_type === 'string' &&
-			oCol.metadata.attribute_type.indexOf('ExternalKey') !== -1) {
+			(oCol.metadata.attribute_type.indexOf('ExternalKey') !== -1 ||
+			 oCol.metadata.attribute_type.indexOf('HierarchicalKey') !== -1)) {
 			return sMData + '/friendlyname';
 		}
 		return sMData + '/raw';
diff --git a/sources/Controller/AjaxRenderController.php b/sources/Controller/AjaxRenderController.php
index 6c5071474d..aa340dba47 100644
--- a/sources/Controller/AjaxRenderController.php
+++ b/sources/Controller/AjaxRenderController.php
@@ -115,10 +115,14 @@ class AjaxRenderController
 
 					foreach ($aColumnsLoad[$sAlias] as $sAttCode) {
 						$aObj[$sAlias."/".$sAttCode] = $aObject[$sAlias]->GetAsHTML($sAttCode);
+						$oAttDef = MetaModel::GetAttributeDef($sClass, $sAttCode);
+						// Expose the friendly name of external/hierarchical keys so JS can sort by label
+						if ($oAttDef->IsExternalKey(EXTKEY_ABSOLUTE)) {
+							$aObj[$sAlias."/".$sAttCode."/friendlyname"] = $aObject[$sAlias]->Get($sAttCode.'_friendlyname');
+						}
 						$bExcludeRawValue = false;
 						// Only retrieve raw (stored) value for simple fields
 						foreach (cmdbAbstractObject::GetAttDefClassesToExcludeFromMarkupMetadataRawValue() as $sAttDefClassToExclude) {
-							$oAttDef = MetaModel::GetAttributeDef($sClass, $sAttCode);
 							if (is_a($oAttDef, $sAttDefClassToExclude, true)) {
 								$bExcludeRawValue = true;
 								break;