diff --git a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jdbc/JdbcEventPublicationRepository.java b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jdbc/JdbcEventPublicationRepository.java
index 67c634c0..45c2b73a 100644
--- a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jdbc/JdbcEventPublicationRepository.java
+++ b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jdbc/JdbcEventPublicationRepository.java
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ class JdbcEventPublicationRepository implements EventPublicationRepository {
 			SELECT ID, COMPLETION_DATE, EVENT_TYPE, LISTENER_ID, PUBLICATION_DATE, SERIALIZED_EVENT
 			FROM EVENT_PUBLICATION
 			WHERE COMPLETION_DATE IS NULL
+			ORDER BY PUBLICATION_DATE ASC
 			""";
 
 	private static final String SQL_STATEMENT_UPDATE = """
diff --git a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jdbc/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jdbc/JdbcEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests.java b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jdbc/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jdbc/JdbcEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
index 95fe4042..790e1f31 100644
--- a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jdbc/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jdbc/JdbcEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
+++ b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jdbc/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jdbc/JdbcEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
@@ -16,11 +16,15 @@
 package org.springframework.modulith.events.jdbc;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.*;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.*;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
 
 import lombok.Value;
 
+import java.time.LocalDateTime;
+import java.time.ZoneOffset;
 import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
+import java.util.Comparator;
 
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Nested;
@@ -97,6 +101,31 @@ class JdbcEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests {
 			assertThat(repository.findIncompletePublications()).isEmpty();
 		}
 
+		@Test // GH-133
+		void returnsOldestIncompletePublicationsFirst() {
+
+			when(serializer.serialize(any())).thenReturn("{}");
+
+			var now = LocalDateTime.now();
+
+			createPublicationAt(now.withHour(3));
+			createPublicationAt(now.withHour(0));
+			createPublicationAt(now.withHour(1));
+
+			assertThat(repository.findIncompletePublications())
+					.isSortedAccordingTo(Comparator.comparing(EventPublication::getPublicationDate));
+		}
+
+		private void createPublicationAt(LocalDateTime publicationDate) {
+
+			EventPublication publication = mock(EventPublication.class);
+			when(publication.getEvent()).thenReturn("");
+			when(publication.getTargetIdentifier()).thenReturn(TARGET_IDENTIFIER);
+			when(publication.getPublicationDate()).thenReturn(publicationDate.toInstant(ZoneOffset.UTC));
+
+			repository.create(publication);
+		}
+
 		@Nested
 		class Update {
 
@@ -240,10 +269,12 @@ class JdbcEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests {
 
 	@Nested
 	@ActiveProfiles("hsqldb")
+	@Testcontainers(disabledWithoutDocker = false)
 	class HSQL extends TestBase {}
 
 	@Nested
 	@ActiveProfiles("h2")
+	@Testcontainers(disabledWithoutDocker = false)
 	class H2 extends TestBase {}
 
 	@Nested
diff --git a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jpa/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jpa/JpaEventPublicationRepository.java b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jpa/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jpa/JpaEventPublicationRepository.java
index cfbb9dc6..ab6afc85 100644
--- a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jpa/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jpa/JpaEventPublicationRepository.java
+++ b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jpa/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jpa/JpaEventPublicationRepository.java
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ class JpaEventPublicationRepository implements EventPublicationRepository {
 			from JpaEventPublication p
 			where
 				p.completionDate is null
+			order by
+				p.publicationDate asc
 			""";
 
 	private static final String DELETE_COMPLETED = """
diff --git a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jpa/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jpa/JpaEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests.java b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jpa/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jpa/JpaEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
index 5ce070d8..ee75b08b 100644
--- a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jpa/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jpa/JpaEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
+++ b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-jpa/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/jpa/JpaEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ import jakarta.persistence.EntityManagerFactory;
 import lombok.RequiredArgsConstructor;
 import lombok.Value;
 
+import java.time.LocalDateTime;
+import java.time.ZoneOffset;
+import java.util.Comparator;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import javax.sql.DataSource;
@@ -196,6 +199,23 @@ class JpaEventPublicationRepositoryIntegrationTests {
 				.element(0).extracting(it -> it.serializedEvent).isEqualTo(serializedEvent2);
 	}
 
+	@Test // GH-133
+	void returnsOldestIncompletePublicationsFirst() {
+
+		var now = LocalDateTime.now();
+
+		savePublicationAt(now.withHour(3));
+		savePublicationAt(now.withHour(0));
+		savePublicationAt(now.withHour(1));
+
+		assertThat(repository.findIncompletePublications())
+				.isSortedAccordingTo(Comparator.comparing(EventPublication::getPublicationDate));
+	}
+
+	private void savePublicationAt(LocalDateTime date) {
+		em.persist(new JpaEventPublication(date.toInstant(ZoneOffset.UTC), "", "", Object.class));
+	}
+
 	@Value
 	private static final class TestEvent {
 		String eventId;
diff --git a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/mongodb/MongoDbEventPublicationRepository.java b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/mongodb/MongoDbEventPublicationRepository.java
index 9fa869ce..bdf90655 100644
--- a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/mongodb/MongoDbEventPublicationRepository.java
+++ b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/mongodb/MongoDbEventPublicationRepository.java
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@ class MongoDbEventPublicationRepository implements EventPublicationRepository {
 	@Override
 	public List<EventPublication> findIncompletePublications() {
 
-		var query = query(where("completionDate").isNull());
+		var query = query(where("completionDate").isNull())
+				.with(Sort.by("publicationDate").ascending());
 
 		return mongoTemplate.find(query, MongoDbEventPublication.class).stream() //
 				.<EventPublication> map(this::documentToDomain) //
diff --git a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/mongodb/MongoDbEventPublicationRepositoryTest.java b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/mongodb/MongoDbEventPublicationRepositoryTest.java
index cc521fae..05945337 100644
--- a/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/mongodb/MongoDbEventPublicationRepositoryTest.java
+++ b/spring-modulith-events/spring-modulith-events-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/modulith/events/mongodb/MongoDbEventPublicationRepositoryTest.java
@@ -19,8 +19,12 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.*;
 
 import lombok.Value;
 
+import java.time.LocalDateTime;
+import java.time.ZoneOffset;
 import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
+import java.util.Comparator;
 
+import org.bson.types.ObjectId;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Nested;
@@ -100,6 +104,25 @@ class MongoDbEventPublicationRepositoryTest {
 				.element(0).extracting(EventPublication::getEvent).isEqualTo(testEvent1);
 	}
 
+	@Test // GH-133
+	void returnsOldestIncompletePublicationsFirst() {
+
+		var now = LocalDateTime.now();
+
+		savePublicationAt(now.withHour(3));
+		savePublicationAt(now.withHour(0));
+		savePublicationAt(now.withHour(1));
+
+		assertThat(repository.findIncompletePublications())
+				.isSortedAccordingTo(Comparator.comparing(EventPublication::getPublicationDate));
+	}
+
+	private void savePublicationAt(LocalDateTime date) {
+
+		mongoTemplate.save(
+				new MongoDbEventPublication(new ObjectId(), date.toInstant(ZoneOffset.UTC), "", "", null));
+	}
+
 	@Nested
 	class FindByEventAndTargetIdentifier {