diff --git a/evennia/typeclasses/managers.py b/evennia/typeclasses/managers.py
index abaf389a1d..dbec3ae547 100644
--- a/evennia/typeclasses/managers.py
+++ b/evennia/typeclasses/managers.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ all Attributes and TypedObjects).
 
 """
 import shlex
-from django.db.models import Q
+from django.db.models import Q, Count
 from evennia.utils import idmapper
 from evennia.utils.utils import make_iter, variable_from_module
 from evennia.typeclasses.attributes import Attribute
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ class TypedObjectManager(idmapper.manager.SharedMemoryManager):
         """
         return self.get_tag(key=key, category=category, obj=obj, tagtype="alias")
 
-    def get_by_tag(self, key=None, category=None, tagtype=None):
+    def get_by_tag(self, key=None, category=None, tagtype=None, **kwargs):
         """
         Return objects having tags with a given key or category or combination of the two.
         Also accepts multiple tags/category/tagtype
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ class TypedObjectManager(idmapper.manager.SharedMemoryManager):
             tagtype (str, optional): 'type' of Tag, by default
                 this is either `None` (a normal Tag), `alias` or
                 `permission`. This always apply to all queried tags.
-
+                
         Returns:
             objects (list): Objects with matching tag.
 
@@ -261,6 +261,10 @@ class TypedObjectManager(idmapper.manager.SharedMemoryManager):
         """
         if not (key or category):
             return []
+            
+        global _Tag
+        if not _Tag:
+            from evennia.typeclasses.models import Tag as _Tag
 
         keys = make_iter(key) if key else []
         categories = make_iter(category) if category else []
@@ -271,7 +275,7 @@ class TypedObjectManager(idmapper.manager.SharedMemoryManager):
         query = (
             self.filter(db_tags__db_tagtype__iexact=tagtype, db_tags__db_model__iexact=dbmodel)
             .distinct()
-            .order_by("id")
+            #.order_by("id")
         )
 
         if n_keys > 0:
@@ -286,16 +290,30 @@ class TypedObjectManager(idmapper.manager.SharedMemoryManager):
                     "get_by_tag needs a single category or a list of categories "
                     "the same length as the list of tags."
                 )
+            
+            clauses = Q()
             for ikey, key in enumerate(keys):
-                query = query.filter(
-                    db_tags__db_key__iexact=key, db_tags__db_category__iexact=categories[ikey]
-                )
+                # Keep each key and category together, grouped by AND
+                clause = Q(db_key__iexact=key, db_category__iexact=categories[ikey])
+                clauses |= clause
+                    
+            query = query.filter(db_tags__in=_Tag.objects.filter(clauses)).annotate(num_tags=Count('db_tags', distinct=True)).filter(num_tags__gte=len(keys))
+            
+            print(keys, query.query)
+                
         else:
             # only one or more categories given
-            for category in categories:
-                query = query.filter(db_tags__db_category__iexact=category)
+            clauses = Q()
+            uniq_categories = sorted(set(categories))
+            for category in uniq_categories:
+                clause = Q(db_category__iexact=category,)
+                
+                # Join all discrete clauses with an OR
+                clauses |= clause
+           
+            query = query.filter(db_tags__in=_Tag.objects.filter(clauses)).annotate(num_tags=Count('db_tags__db_category', distinct=True)).filter(num_tags__gte=len(uniq_categories))
 
-        return query
+        return query.order_by('-num_tags')
 
     def get_by_permission(self, key=None, category=None):
         """