diff --git a/para-server/src/test/java/com/erudika/para/search/SearchTest.java b/para-server/src/test/java/com/erudika/para/search/SearchTest.java
index 641a5d28..f9749838 100644
--- a/para-server/src/test/java/com/erudika/para/search/SearchTest.java
+++ b/para-server/src/test/java/com/erudika/para/search/SearchTest.java
@@ -37,10 +37,10 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNull;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotEquals;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Disabled;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
@@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ public void testGetCount() {
 	@Test
 	public void testPaginationAndSorting() {
 		Pager pager = new Pager(2);
+		pager.setSortby("_docid");
 		List<User> page1 = s.findQuery(u.getType(), "type:user", pager);
 		pager.setPage(2);
 		List<User> page2 = s.findQuery(u.getType(), "type:user", pager);
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index d7851ab8..4c9355e5 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -86,8 +86,8 @@
 		<httpClientVer>5.3.1</httpClientVer>
 		<httpCoreVer>5.2.4</httpCoreVer>
 		<commonsCodecVer>1.16.1</commonsCodecVer>
-		<lucenePluginVer>1.48.1</lucenePluginVer>
-		<sqlPluginVer>1.48.1</sqlPluginVer>
+		<lucenePluginVer>1.49.0</lucenePluginVer>
+		<sqlPluginVer>1.49.0</sqlPluginVer>
 		<junitVer>5.11.2</junitVer>
 		<junitPlatformVer>1.10.2</junitPlatformVer>
 	</properties>
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@
 				<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
 				<version>3.13.0</version>
 				<configuration>
-					<release>17</release>
+					<release>21</release>
 					<compilerArgument>-Xlint:-options</compilerArgument>
 					<encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
 					<showWarnings>true</showWarnings>