diff --git a/admin/configuration.php b/admin/configuration.php
index 95ba049d4..2274ab75a 100644
--- a/admin/configuration.php
+++ b/admin/configuration.php
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ $sort_fields = array(
   'hit ASC'             => l10n('Visits, low → high'),
   'id ASC'              => l10n('Numeric identifier, 1 → 9'),
   'id DESC'             => l10n('Numeric identifier, 9 → 1'),
-  'rank ASC'            => l10n('Manual sort order'),
+  '`rank` ASC'          => l10n('Manual sort order'),
   );
 
 $comments_order = array(
diff --git a/admin/element_set_ranks.php b/admin/element_set_ranks.php
index 07b20c95b..7defa3c3b 100644
--- a/admin/element_set_ranks.php
+++ b/admin/element_set_ranks.php
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ if (isset($_POST['submit']))
   }
   elseif ($image_order_choice=='rank')
   {
-    $image_order = 'rank ASC';
+    $image_order = '`rank` ASC';
   }
   $query = '
 UPDATE '.CATEGORIES_TABLE.' 
diff --git a/include/category_cats.inc.php b/include/category_cats.inc.php
index 37924fecd..03eed5f53 100644
--- a/include/category_cats.inc.php
+++ b/include/category_cats.inc.php
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ $query.= '
 if ('recent_cats' != $page['section'])
 {
   $query.= '
-  ORDER BY rank';
+  ORDER BY `rank`';
 }
 
 $result = pwg_query($query);
diff --git a/include/dblayer/functions_mysql.inc.php b/include/dblayer/functions_mysql.inc.php
index 25e589162..1ea188f42 100644
--- a/include/dblayer/functions_mysql.inc.php
+++ b/include/dblayer/functions_mysql.inc.php
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ function pwg_get_db_version()
   return mysql_get_server_info();
 }
 
-function pwg_query($query, $escape_reserved_words=true)
+function pwg_query($query)
 {
   global $conf,$page,$debug,$t2;
 
diff --git a/include/dblayer/functions_mysqli.inc.php b/include/dblayer/functions_mysqli.inc.php
index f9a68d391..63d2babbf 100644
--- a/include/dblayer/functions_mysqli.inc.php
+++ b/include/dblayer/functions_mysqli.inc.php
@@ -124,27 +124,10 @@ function pwg_get_db_version()
  * @param string $query
  * @return mysqli_result|bool
  */
-function pwg_query($query, $escape_reserved_words=true)
+function pwg_query($query)
 {
   global $mysqli, $conf, $page, $debug, $t2;
 
-  // starting with MySQL 8, rank becomes a reserved keyword, we need to escape it
-  if ($escape_reserved_words and preg_match('/\brank\b/', $query))
-  {
-    // first we unescape what's already escaped (to avoid double escaping)
-    $query = preg_replace('/`rank`/', 'rank', $query);
-    // then we escape the keyword
-    $query = preg_replace('/\brank\b/', '`rank`', $query);
-  }
-
-  if ($escape_reserved_words and preg_match('/\bgroups\b/', $query))
-  {
-    // first we unescape what's already escaped (to avoid double escaping)
-    $query = preg_replace('/`groups`/', 'groups', $query);
-    // then we escape the keyword
-    $query = preg_replace('/\bgroups\b/', '`groups`', $query);
-  }
-
   $start = microtime(true);
   ($result = $mysqli->query($query)) or my_error($query, $conf['die_on_sql_error']);
 
diff --git a/include/functions.inc.php b/include/functions.inc.php
index 2225197ff..6c324b145 100644
--- a/include/functions.inc.php
+++ b/include/functions.inc.php
@@ -1381,7 +1381,7 @@ INSERT INTO
   ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE value = \''.$dbValue.'\'
 ;';
 
-  pwg_query($query, false);
+  pwg_query($query);
 
   if ($updateGlobal)
   {
diff --git a/include/ws_functions/pwg.categories.php b/include/ws_functions/pwg.categories.php
index 89c9b3224..b7643bdfe 100644
--- a/include/ws_functions/pwg.categories.php
+++ b/include/ws_functions/pwg.categories.php
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ function ws_categories_setRank($params, &$service)
 {
   // does the category really exist?
   $query = '
-SELECT id, id_uppercat, rank
+SELECT id, id_uppercat, `rank`
   FROM '.CATEGORIES_TABLE.'
   WHERE id IN ('.implode(',',$params['category_id']).')
 ;';
diff --git a/include/ws_functions/pwg.images.php b/include/ws_functions/pwg.images.php
index 5ff3bb5cd..ecb3ccd57 100644
--- a/include/ws_functions/pwg.images.php
+++ b/include/ws_functions/pwg.images.php
@@ -112,9 +112,9 @@ DELETE
   if ($search_current_ranks)
   {
     $query = '
-SELECT category_id, MAX(rank) AS max_rank
+SELECT category_id, MAX(`rank`) AS max_rank
   FROM '.IMAGE_CATEGORY_TABLE.'
-  WHERE rank IS NOT NULL
+  WHERE `rank` IS NOT NULL
     AND category_id IN ('.implode(',', $new_cat_ids).')
   GROUP BY category_id
 ;';
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ SELECT
     image_id
   FROM '.IMAGE_CATEGORY_TABLE.'
   WHERE category_id = '.$params['category_id'].'
-  ORDER BY rank ASC
+  ORDER BY `rank` ASC
 ;';
     $image_ids = query2array($query, null, 'image_id');
 
@@ -790,7 +790,7 @@ SELECT COUNT(*)
 
   // what is the current higher rank for this category?
   $query = '
-SELECT MAX(rank) AS max_rank
+SELECT MAX(`rank`) AS max_rank
   FROM '. IMAGE_CATEGORY_TABLE .'
   WHERE category_id = '. $params['category_id'] .'
 ;';
@@ -811,17 +811,17 @@ SELECT MAX(rank) AS max_rank
   // update rank for all other photos in the same category
   $query = '
 UPDATE '. IMAGE_CATEGORY_TABLE .'
-  SET rank = rank + 1
+  SET `rank` = `rank` + 1
   WHERE category_id = '. $params['category_id'] .'
-    AND rank IS NOT NULL
-    AND rank >= '. $params['rank'] .'
+    AND `rank` IS NOT NULL
+    AND `rank` >= '. $params['rank'] .'
 ;';
   pwg_query($query);
 
   // set the new rank for the photo
   $query = '
 UPDATE '. IMAGE_CATEGORY_TABLE .'
-  SET rank = '. $params['rank'] .'
+  SET `rank` = '. $params['rank'] .'
   WHERE image_id = '. $params['image_id'] .'
     AND category_id = '. $params['category_id'] .'
 ;';