diff --git a/kolibri/core/content/api.py b/kolibri/core/content/api.py
index 900a4d0e6ba..9137e7f4f3e 100644
--- a/kolibri/core/content/api.py
+++ b/kolibri/core/content/api.py
@@ -827,6 +827,7 @@ class OptionalPagination(ValuesViewsetCursorPagination):
 
 class OptionalContentNodePagination(OptionalPagination):
     use_deprecated_channels_labels = False
+    ordering = ("lft", "id")
 
     def paginate_queryset(self, queryset, request, view=None):
         # Record the queryset for use in returning available filters
@@ -836,17 +837,17 @@ def paginate_queryset(self, queryset, request, view=None):
         )
 
     def get_paginated_response(self, data):
-        labels = (
-            get_available_metadata_labels(self.queryset)
-            if self.use_deprecated_channels_labels
-            else {}
-        )
         return Response(
             OrderedDict(
                 [
                     ("more", self.get_more()),
                     ("results", data),
-                    ("labels", labels),
+                    (
+                        "labels",
+                        get_available_metadata_labels(
+                            self.queryset, self.use_deprecated_channels_labels
+                        ),
+                    ),
                 ]
             )
         )
diff --git a/kolibri/core/content/test/test_content_app.py b/kolibri/core/content/test/test_content_app.py
index 09836a5af2e..8c5e6f46ad6 100644
--- a/kolibri/core/content/test/test_content_app.py
+++ b/kolibri/core/content/test/test_content_app.py
@@ -392,6 +392,23 @@ def test_contentnode_list(self):
         self.assertEqual(len(response.data), expected_output)
         self._assert_nodes(response.data, nodes)
 
+    def test_contentnode_channel_metadata_label_absent_in_internal_api(self):
+        response = self._get(
+            reverse("kolibri:core:contentnode-list"), data={"max_results": 5}
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        if not self.baseurl:
+            self.assertNotIn("channels", response.data.get("labels"))
+        else:
+            self.assertIn("channels", response.data.get("labels"))
+
+    def test_contentnode_channel_metadata_label_present_in_public_api(self):
+        response = self._get(
+            reverse("kolibri:core:publiccontentnode-list"), data={"max_results": 5}
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertIn("channels", response.data.get("labels"))
+
     def test_contentnode_etag(self):
         root = content.ContentNode.objects.get(title="root")
         nodes = root.get_descendants(include_self=True).filter(available=True)
diff --git a/kolibri/core/content/utils/search.py b/kolibri/core/content/utils/search.py
index 1658744492d..d77874a06c1 100644
--- a/kolibri/core/content/utils/search.py
+++ b/kolibri/core/content/utils/search.py
@@ -105,14 +105,17 @@ def template(self):
         )
 
 
-def get_available_metadata_labels(base_queryset):  # noqa: C901
+def get_available_metadata_labels(  # noqa: C901
+    base_queryset, use_deprecated_channels_labels
+):
     from kolibri.core.device.models import ContentCacheKey
 
     content_cache_key = ContentCacheKey.get_cache_key()
     try:
-        cache_key = "search-labels:{}:{}".format(
+        cache_key = "search-labels:{}:{}:{}".format(
             content_cache_key,
             hashlib.md5(str(base_queryset.query).encode("utf8")).hexdigest(),
+            "with-channels" if use_deprecated_channels_labels else "no-channels",
         )
     except EmptyResultSet:
         return empty_labels
@@ -137,7 +140,8 @@ def get_available_metadata_labels(base_queryset):  # noqa: C901
                 if bit_value is not None and bit_value & value["bits"]:
                     output[value["field_name"]].append(value["label"])
         output["languages"] = _get_available_languages(base_queryset)
-        output["channels"] = _get_available_channels(base_queryset)
+        if use_deprecated_channels_labels:
+            output["channels"] = _get_available_channels(base_queryset)
         cache.set(cache_key, output, timeout=None)
     return cache.get(cache_key)