diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 82d657f0f..54e90a9f9 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ func mapEnvConfigToFlags() {
 		}
 
 		envName := f.Tag.Get("envconfig")
-		defaultVal := f.Tag.Get("default")
 
 		helpMsg := fmt.Sprintf("%s. This flag can also be set via %s environment variable.", f.Tag.Get("help"), f.Tag.Get("envconfig"))
 		if f.Tag.Get("required") == "true" {
@@ -89,7 +88,7 @@ func mapEnvConfigToFlags() {
 			mapper.isBool = true
 			mapper.boolVal = flag.Bool(flagName, false, helpMsg)
 		} else {
-			mapper.stringVal = flag.String(flagName, defaultVal, helpMsg)
+			mapper.stringVal = flag.String(flagName, "", helpMsg)
 		}
 		flags[envName] = mapper
 	}
diff --git a/models/models.go b/models/models.go
index 3035b8faa..a60adbb3a 100644
--- a/models/models.go
+++ b/models/models.go
@@ -67,9 +67,8 @@ func (a UnseeAlertList) Swap(i, j int) {
 	a[i], a[j] = a[j], a[i]
 }
 func (a UnseeAlertList) Less(i, j int) bool {
-	// compare timestamps rounded up to 2s, subsecond accuracy is lost to keep
-	// ordering stable even with small time drift
-	return a[i].StartsAt.Round(2 * time.Second).After(a[j].StartsAt.Round(2 * time.Second))
+	// compare timestamps, if equal compare labels
+	return a[i].StartsAt.After(a[j].StartsAt)
 }
 
 // UnseeAlertGroup is vanilla Alertmanager group, but alerts are flattened