diff --git a/course_discovery/apps/course_metadata/tests/test_widgets.py b/course_discovery/apps/course_metadata/tests/test_widgets.py
index e1b7497206..0cb853b63b 100644
--- a/course_discovery/apps/course_metadata/tests/test_widgets.py
+++ b/course_discovery/apps/course_metadata/tests/test_widgets.py
@@ -1,19 +1,40 @@
-import ddt
+import itertools
+
+from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
 from django.test import TestCase
+from django.urls import reverse
+
+from course_discovery.apps.api.tests.mixins import SiteMixin
+from course_discovery.apps.core.tests.factories import USER_PASSWORD, UserFactory
+from course_discovery.apps.course_metadata.tests.factories import CourseFactory, ProgramFactory
+
 
-from course_discovery.apps.course_metadata.widgets import SortedModelSelect2Multiple
+class SortedModelSelect2MultipleTests(SiteMixin, TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        super().setUp()
+        self.user = UserFactory(is_staff=True, is_superuser=True)
+        self.client.login(username=self.user.username, password=USER_PASSWORD)
 
+    def test_program_ordered_m2m(self):
+        """
+        Verify that program page sorted m2m fields render in order. The sorted
+        m2m field chosen for the test is the courses field
+        """
 
-@ddt.ddt
-class SortedModelSelect2MultipleTests(TestCase):
-    @ddt.data(
-        (['1', '2'], [1, 2]),
-        (['2', '1'], [2, 1]),
-        (['3'], [3,]),
-    )
-    @ddt.unpack
-    def test_optgroups_are_sorted(self, value, result_order):
-        choices = ((1, 'one'), (2, 'two'), (3, 'three'))
-        widget = SortedModelSelect2Multiple(url='requiredurl', choices=choices)
-        result = widget.optgroups('test', value)
-        assert result_order == [x[1][0]['value'] for x in result]
+        for courses in itertools.permutations(
+            [
+                CourseFactory(title="Blade Runner 2049"),
+                CourseFactory(title="History of Western Literature"),
+                CourseFactory(title="Urdu Poetry")
+            ],
+            2
+        ):
+            program = ProgramFactory(courses=courses)
+            response = self.client.get(reverse('admin:course_metadata_program_change', args=(program.id,)))
+            response_content = BeautifulSoup(response.content)
+            options = response_content.find('select', {'name': 'courses'}).find_all('option')
+            assert len(options) == len(courses)
+            for idx, opt in enumerate(options):
+                assert 'selected' in opt.attrs
+                assert opt.get_text().endswith(courses[idx].title)
+                assert opt.attrs['value'] == str(courses[idx].id)
diff --git a/course_discovery/apps/course_metadata/widgets.py b/course_discovery/apps/course_metadata/widgets.py
index 0f85f435b3..a7d3519dc8 100644
--- a/course_discovery/apps/course_metadata/widgets.py
+++ b/course_discovery/apps/course_metadata/widgets.py
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-from itertools import chain
-
 from dal import autocomplete
 
 
@@ -8,16 +6,9 @@ def optgroups(self, name, value, attrs=None):
         """
         Return a sorted list of optgroups for this widget.
 
-        This is a simplified version of Django's version. The big difference is that we keep the results sorted and
-        only support one main group (because that's all we need right now).
+        This is a simplified version of Django's version. The big difference is that we keep the results sorted.
         """
-        selected = []
-        for index, (option_value, option_label) in enumerate(chain(self.choices)):
-            is_selected = str(option_value) in value
-            if is_selected:
-                subgroup = [self.create_option(name, option_value, option_label, is_selected, index, attrs=attrs)]
-                item = (None, subgroup, index)
-                selected.append(item)
+        selected = super().optgroups(name, value, attrs)
 
         ordered = []
         for value_id in value: