diff --git a/hack/lib/test.sh b/hack/lib/test.sh
index 1fe6df65de3..62a6765f28c 100644
--- a/hack/lib/test.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/test.sh
@@ -260,14 +260,10 @@ kube::test::describe_resource_events_assert() {
     fi
 }
 
-# Compare sort-by resource name output with expected order specify in the last parameter
+# Compare sort-by resource name output (first column, skipping first line) with expected order specify in the last parameter
 kube::test::if_sort_by_has_correct_order() {
-  IFS=" " read -r -a array <<< "$(echo "$1" |awk '{if(NR!=1) print $1}')"
   local var
-  for i in "${array[@]}"; do
-    var+="${i}:"
-  done
-
+  var="$(echo "$1" | awk '{if(NR!=1) print $1}' | tr '\n' ':')"
   kube::test::if_has_string "${var}" "${@:$#}"
 }