diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/query_methods.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/query_methods.rb
index 3566a57ddc525ebe1c137c4e8bfee6aaf66b75c4..5563dfb6c917c1792909a58561dde58254f80d2a 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/query_methods.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/query_methods.rb
@@ -1157,9 +1157,9 @@ def preprocess_order_args(order_args)
         order_args.map! do |arg|
           case arg
           when Symbol
-            field = arg.to_s
-            arel_column(field) {
-              Arel.sql(connection.quote_table_name(field))
+            arg = arg.to_s
+            arel_column(arg) {
+              Arel.sql(connection.quote_table_name(arg))
             }.asc
           when Hash
             arg.map { |field, dir|