diff --git a/src/graphs/barchart.cpp b/src/graphs/barchart.cpp
index f026b337..95b3e001 100644
--- a/src/graphs/barchart.cpp
+++ b/src/graphs/barchart.cpp
@@ -466,6 +466,10 @@ namespace Wisteria::Graphs
         if (barLabels.size() != GetBars().size())
             { return; }
 
+        // bar groups and brackets connected to bars' positions will need to be removed
+        m_barGroups.clear();
+        GetBarAxis().ClearBrackets();
+
         // verify that provided labels are in the existing bars
         // (if not, then add a empty bar for it)
         for (const auto& label : labels)
@@ -602,8 +606,9 @@ namespace Wisteria::Graphs
             GetBarAxis().IsReversed())
             { return; }
 
-        // bar groups connected to bars' positions will need to be removed
+        // bar groups and brackets connected to bars' positions will need to be removed
         m_barGroups.clear();
+        GetBarAxis().ClearBrackets();
 
         const bool isDisplayingOuterLabels = GetBarAxis().IsShowingOuterLabels();
         GetBarAxis().ClearCustomLabels();
diff --git a/src/graphs/barchart.h b/src/graphs/barchart.h
index 8b9b7678..66e25ebe 100644
--- a/src/graphs/barchart.h
+++ b/src/graphs/barchart.h
@@ -986,6 +986,8 @@ namespace Wisteria::Graphs
         /// @param direction SortAscending to sort smallest-to-largest (A-Z),
         ///    going top-to-bottom or left-to-right.
         ///    SortDescending to sort largest-to-smallest (A-Z).
+        /// @warning If there are bar groups or brackets along the bar axis, then those
+        ///     will be removed when sorting.
         virtual void SortBars(const BarSortComparison sortMethod, const SortDirection direction);
         /// @brief Sorts the bars (based on a specified order of axis labels).
         ///     This is similar to what @c forcats::fct_relevel() does in R.
@@ -1001,6 +1003,8 @@ namespace Wisteria::Graphs
         ///     Finally, all bar labels must be unique for the label ordering to work;
         ///     otherwise, the sort could not be deterministic. If there are multiple bars
         ///     with the same axis label, then this will return without sorting.
+        /// @warning If there are bar groups or brackets along the bar axis, then those
+        ///     will be removed when sorting.
         virtual void SortBars(std::vector<wxString> labels, const SortDirection direction);
         /// @returns @c true if the bars can be sorted (i.e., reordered) in terms of bar length.
         virtual bool IsSortable() const noexcept