diff --git a/internal/buildengine/discover_test.go b/internal/buildengine/discover_test.go
index 1c096c42c8..8199bfdcff 100644
--- a/internal/buildengine/discover_test.go
+++ b/internal/buildengine/discover_test.go
@@ -21,11 +21,16 @@ func TestDiscoverModules(t *testing.T) {
 				Language:  "go",
 				Realm:     "home",
 				Module:    "alpha",
-				Deploy:    []string{"main", "launch"},
+				Deploy:    []string{"launch", "main"},
 				DeployDir: ".ftl",
 				Schema:    "schema.pb",
 				Errors:    "errors.pb",
-				Watch:     []string{"**/*.go", "go.mod", "go.sum", "../../../../go-runtime/ftl/**/*.go"},
+				Watch: []string{
+					"**/*.go",
+					"../../../../go-runtime/ftl/**/*.go",
+					"go.mod",
+					"go.sum",
+				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -34,11 +39,17 @@ func TestDiscoverModules(t *testing.T) {
 				Language:  "go",
 				Realm:     "home",
 				Module:    "another",
-				Deploy:    []string{"main", "launch"},
+				Deploy:    []string{"launch", "main"},
 				DeployDir: ".ftl",
 				Schema:    "schema.pb",
 				Errors:    "errors.pb",
-				Watch:     []string{"**/*.go", "go.mod", "go.sum", "../../../../go-runtime/ftl/**/*.go", "../../../../go-runtime/schema/testdata/**/*.go"},
+				Watch: []string{
+					"**/*.go",
+					"../../../../go-runtime/ftl/**/*.go",
+					"../../../../go-runtime/schema/testdata/**/*.go",
+					"go.mod",
+					"go.sum",
+				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -47,7 +58,7 @@ func TestDiscoverModules(t *testing.T) {
 				Language:  "go",
 				Realm:     "home",
 				Module:    "depcycle1",
-				Deploy:    []string{"main", "launch"},
+				Deploy:    []string{"launch", "main"},
 				DeployDir: ".ftl",
 				Schema:    "schema.pb",
 				Errors:    "errors.pb",
@@ -60,7 +71,7 @@ func TestDiscoverModules(t *testing.T) {
 				Language:  "go",
 				Realm:     "home",
 				Module:    "depcycle2",
-				Deploy:    []string{"main", "launch"},
+				Deploy:    []string{"launch", "main"},
 				DeployDir: ".ftl",
 				Schema:    "schema.pb",
 				Errors:    "errors.pb",
@@ -75,8 +86,8 @@ func TestDiscoverModules(t *testing.T) {
 				Module:   "echo",
 				Build:    "mvn -B package",
 				Deploy: []string{
-					"quarkus-app",
 					"launch",
+					"quarkus-app",
 				},
 				DeployDir:          "target",
 				GeneratedSchemaDir: "src/main/ftl-module-schema",
@@ -100,8 +111,8 @@ func TestDiscoverModules(t *testing.T) {
 				Module:   "external",
 				Build:    "",
 				Deploy: []string{
-					"main",
 					"launch",
+					"main",
 				},
 				DeployDir: ".ftl",
 				Schema:    "schema.pb",
@@ -121,8 +132,8 @@ func TestDiscoverModules(t *testing.T) {
 				Module:   "externalkotlin",
 				Build:    "mvn -B package",
 				Deploy: []string{
-					"quarkus-app",
 					"launch",
+					"quarkus-app",
 				},
 				DeployDir:          "target",
 				GeneratedSchemaDir: "src/main/ftl-module-schema",
@@ -144,7 +155,7 @@ func TestDiscoverModules(t *testing.T) {
 				Language:  "go",
 				Realm:     "home",
 				Module:    "integer",
-				Deploy:    []string{"main", "launch"},
+				Deploy:    []string{"launch", "main"},
 				DeployDir: ".ftl",
 				Schema:    "schema.pb",
 				Errors:    "errors.pb",
@@ -157,11 +168,17 @@ func TestDiscoverModules(t *testing.T) {
 				Language:  "go",
 				Realm:     "home",
 				Module:    "other",
-				Deploy:    []string{"main", "launch"},
+				Deploy:    []string{"launch", "main"},
 				DeployDir: ".ftl",
 				Schema:    "schema.pb",
 				Errors:    "errors.pb",
-				Watch:     []string{"**/*.go", "go.mod", "go.sum", "../../../../go-runtime/ftl/**/*.go", "../../../../go-runtime/schema/testdata/**/*.go"},
+				Watch: []string{
+					"**/*.go",
+					"../../../../go-runtime/ftl/**/*.go",
+					"../../../../go-runtime/schema/testdata/**/*.go",
+					"go.mod",
+					"go.sum",
+				},
 			},
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/internal/moduleconfig/moduleconfig.go b/internal/moduleconfig/moduleconfig.go
index 35a40f4e0a..430b313d87 100644
--- a/internal/moduleconfig/moduleconfig.go
+++ b/internal/moduleconfig/moduleconfig.go
@@ -209,7 +209,8 @@ func setConfigDefaults(moduleDir string, config *ModuleConfig) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("deploy %s files must be relative to the module directory %s", deploy, moduleDir)
 		}
 	}
-
+	config.Deploy = slices.Sort(config.Deploy)
+	config.Watch = slices.Sort(config.Watch)
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/slices/slices.go b/internal/slices/slices.go
index 4c7b99ef7d..f25acc5a26 100644
--- a/internal/slices/slices.go
+++ b/internal/slices/slices.go
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ func AppendOrReplace[T any](slice []T, value T, fn func(T) bool) []T {
 func Sort[T cmp.Ordered](slice []T) []T {
 	out := make([]T, len(slice))
 	copy(out, slice)
-	sort.Slice(out, func(i, j int) bool {
+	sort.SliceStable(out, func(i, j int) bool {
 		return out[i] < out[j]
 	})
 	return out