diff --git a/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/PaginatorComponent.php b/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/PaginatorComponent.php
index 6e34fa6d7..85f8ab6b0 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/PaginatorComponent.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/PaginatorComponent.php
@@ -382,13 +382,13 @@ class PaginatorComponent extends Component {
 			}
 			return $options;
 		}
-
 		if (!empty($options['order']) && is_array($options['order'])) {
 			$order = array();
 			foreach ($options['order'] as $key => $value) {
 				if (is_int($key)) {
-					$key = $value;
-					$value = 'asc';
+					$field = explode(' ', $value);
+					$key = $field[0];
+					$value = count($field) === 2 ? trim($field[1]) : 'asc';
 				}
 				$field = $key;
 				$alias = $object->alias;
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Controller/Component/PaginatorComponentTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Controller/Component/PaginatorComponentTest.php
index 087b92029..9da2a1fe4 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Controller/Component/PaginatorComponentTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Controller/Component/PaginatorComponentTest.php
@@ -326,6 +326,12 @@ class PaginatorComponentTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$results = Hash::extract($Controller->Paginator->paginate('PaginatorControllerComment'), '{n}.PaginatorControllerComment.id');
 		$this->assertEquals(array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), $results);
 
+		$Controller->Paginator->settings = array(
+			'order' => array('PaginatorControllerComment.id DESC')
+		);
+		$results = Hash::extract($Controller->Paginator->paginate('PaginatorControllerComment'), '{n}.PaginatorControllerComment.id');
+		$this->assertEquals(array(6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1), $results);
+
 		$Controller->Paginator->settings = array(
 			'order' => array('PaginatorControllerPost.id' => 'ASC')
 		);
@@ -629,6 +635,17 @@ class PaginatorComponentTest extends CakeTestCase {
 			'PaginatorControllerPost.created' => 'asc'
 		);
 		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result['order']);
+
+		$Controller->PaginatorControllerPost->order = array(
+			'PaginatorControllerPost.id ASC',
+			'PaginatorControllerPost.created DESC'
+		);
+		$result = $Controller->Paginator->validateSort($Controller->PaginatorControllerPost, array());
+		$expected = array(
+			'PaginatorControllerPost.id' => 'ASC',
+			'PaginatorControllerPost.created' => 'DESC'
+		);
+		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result['order']);
 	}
 
 /**