diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 2e7bf80b6..25204f52a 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@
    and overdue.
  + Fixed bug #459, which showed a confusing message when 'limit:page' was
    used, with few tasks.
+ + Fixed bug #466, which gave the wrong error message when a custom report
+   was missing a direction indicator for the sort order.
  + Fixed problem with command line configuration overrides that had no
    values. 
  + Fixed problem with the 'undo' command not observing the rc.color or the
diff --git a/src/custom.cpp b/src/custom.cpp
index 5917564e8..33aba2361 100644
--- a/src/custom.cpp
+++ b/src/custom.cpp
@@ -730,6 +730,12 @@ void validSortColumns (
   std::vector <std::string>::const_iterator sc;
   for (sc = sortColumns.begin (); sc != sortColumns.end (); ++sc)
   {
+    char direction = (*sc)[sc->length () - 1];
+    if (direction != '-' && direction != '+')
+      throw std::string ("Sort column '") +
+            *sc +
+            "' does not have a +/- ascending/descending indicator.";
+
     std::vector <std::string>::const_iterator co;
     for (co = columns.begin (); co != columns.end (); ++co)
       if (sc->substr (0, sc->length () - 1) == *co)
diff --git a/src/tests/bug.466.t b/src/tests/bug.466.t
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..94d48ad95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/bug.466.t
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+#! /usr/bin/perl
+################################################################################
+## task - a command line task list manager.
+##
+## Copyright 2006 - 2010, Paul Beckingham.
+## All rights reserved.
+##
+## This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+## the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+## Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+## version.
+##
+## This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+## ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+## FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more
+## details.
+##
+## You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+## this program; if not, write to the
+##
+##     Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+##     51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+##     Boston, MA
+##     02110-1301
+##     USA
+##
+################################################################################
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+use Test::More tests => 6;
+
+# Create the rc file.
+if (open my $fh, '>', '466.rc')
+{
+  print $fh "data.location=.\n",
+            "report.foo.description=DESC\n",
+            "report.foo.columns=id,description\n",
+            "report.foo.sort=id,description\n";
+
+  close $fh;
+  ok (-r '466.rc', 'Created 466.rc');
+}
+
+# Bug #466 - wrong error message when sort key missing +/-
+my $output = qx{../task rc:466.rc foo};
+like ($output, qr/Sort column 'id' does not have a \+\/- ascending\/descending indicator\./,
+      'Error on missing sort direction');
+
+# Cleanup.
+unlink 'pending.data';
+ok (!-r 'pending.data', 'Removed pending.data');
+
+unlink 'completed.data';
+ok (!-r 'completed.data', 'Removed completed.data');
+
+unlink 'undo.data';
+ok (!-r 'undo.data', 'Removed undo.data');
+
+unlink '466.rc';
+ok (!-r '466.rc', 'Removed 466.rc');
+
+exit 0;