diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/schema.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/schema.go
index 7d57c5488cb..e84c3812961 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/schema.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/schema.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package mysqlctl
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
+	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vtgate/evalengine"
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) GetSchema(ctx context.Context, dbName string, tables, excl
 		return sd, nil
 	}
 
-	sd.TableDefinitions = make([]*tabletmanagerdatapb.TableDefinition, 0, len(qr.Rows))
+	tds := make(tableDefinitions, 0, len(qr.Rows))
 	for _, row := range qr.Rows {
 		tableName := row[0].ToString()
 		tableType := row[1].ToString()
@@ -133,9 +134,13 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) GetSchema(ctx context.Context, dbName string, tables, excl
 		td.Type = tableType
 		td.DataLength = dataLength
 		td.RowCount = rowCount
-		sd.TableDefinitions = append(sd.TableDefinitions, td)
+		tds = append(tds, td)
 	}
 
+	sort.Sort(tds)
+
+	sd.TableDefinitions = tds
+
 	sd, err = tmutils.FilterTables(sd, tables, excludeTables, includeViews)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -374,3 +379,20 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) ApplySchemaChange(ctx context.Context, dbName string, chan
 
 	return &tabletmanagerdatapb.SchemaChangeResult{BeforeSchema: beforeSchema, AfterSchema: afterSchema}, nil
 }
+
+//tableDefinitions is a sortable collection of table definitions
+type tableDefinitions []*tabletmanagerdatapb.TableDefinition
+
+func (t tableDefinitions) Len() int {
+	return len(t)
+}
+
+func (t tableDefinitions) Less(i, j int) bool {
+	return t[i].Name < t[j].Name
+}
+
+func (t tableDefinitions) Swap(i, j int) {
+	t[i], t[j] = t[j], t[i]
+}
+
+var _ sort.Interface = (tableDefinitions)(nil)
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/tabledefinitions_test.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/tabledefinitions_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bbb448bf4b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/tabledefinitions_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package mysqlctl
+
+import (
+	"sort"
+	"testing"
+
+	"vitess.io/vitess/go/test/utils"
+)
+
+func TestTableDefinitionsAreSorted(t *testing.T) {
+	// assert that two collections of table definitions are comparable even if
+	// the inputs are ordered differently
+	tds1 := tableDefinitions{{
+		Name:   "table1",
+		Schema: "schema1",
+	}, {
+		Name:   "table2",
+		Schema: "schema2",
+	}}
+	tds2 := tableDefinitions{{
+		Name:   "table2",
+		Schema: "schema2",
+	}, {
+		Name:   "table1",
+		Schema: "schema1",
+	}}
+	sort.Sort(tds1)
+	sort.Sort(tds2)
+	utils.MustMatch(t, tds1, tds2, "")
+}