diff --git a/resources/fileTemplates/code/Magento Module DI Xml Plugin.xml.ft b/resources/fileTemplates/code/Magento Module DI Xml Plugin.xml.ft
index 062b13b67..5dde452f4 100644
--- a/resources/fileTemplates/code/Magento Module DI Xml Plugin.xml.ft	
+++ b/resources/fileTemplates/code/Magento Module DI Xml Plugin.xml.ft	
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@
 <type name="${TYPE}">
 #end
 <plugin name="${NAME}"
-            type="${PLUGIN_TYPE}" sortOrder="${SORT_ORDER}" />
+#if (${SORT_ORDER})
+        type="${PLUGIN_TYPE}"
+        sortOrder="${SORT_ORDER}" />
+#else
+        type="${PLUGIN_TYPE}" />
+#end
 #if (${TYPE})
 </type>
 #end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/dialog/CreateAPluginDialog.form b/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/dialog/CreateAPluginDialog.form
index 4434c7a9b..405f17927 100644
--- a/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/dialog/CreateAPluginDialog.form
+++ b/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/dialog/CreateAPluginDialog.form
@@ -131,7 +131,6 @@
               </grid>
             </constraints>
             <properties>
-              <text value="10"/>
               <toolTipText value="Plugin sort order in di.xml"/>
             </properties>
             <clientProperties>
diff --git a/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/dialog/CreateAPluginDialog.java b/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/dialog/CreateAPluginDialog.java
index 8ae752ad8..b6b551adb 100644
--- a/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/dialog/CreateAPluginDialog.java
+++ b/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/dialog/CreateAPluginDialog.java
@@ -82,8 +82,6 @@ public class CreateAPluginDialog extends AbstractDialog {
             message = {DirectoryRule.MESSAGE, DIRECTORY})
     private JTextField pluginDirectory;
 
-    @FieldValidation(rule = RuleRegistry.NOT_EMPTY,
-            message = {NotEmptyRule.MESSAGE, SORT_ORDER})
     @FieldValidation(rule = RuleRegistry.NUMERIC,
             message = {NumericRule.MESSAGE, SORT_ORDER})
     private JTextField pluginSortOrder;
diff --git a/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator.java b/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator.java
index e4e10d39c..70338c250 100644
--- a/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator.java
+++ b/src/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator.java
@@ -161,6 +161,9 @@ protected void fillAttributes(final Properties attributes) {
         attributes.setProperty("NAME", pluginFileData.getPluginName());
         attributes.setProperty("PLUGIN_TYPE", pluginFileData.getPluginFqn());
         attributes.setProperty("PLUGIN_NAME", pluginFileData.getPluginName());
-        attributes.setProperty("SORT_ORDER", pluginFileData.getSortOrder());
+        final String sortOrder = pluginFileData.getSortOrder();
+        if (!sortOrder.isEmpty()) {
+            attributes.setProperty("SORT_ORDER", sortOrder);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/addTwoPluginsToOneDiXml/di.xml b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/addTwoPluginsToOneDiXml/di.xml
index a8d0b89ab..6a1235ecb 100644
--- a/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/addTwoPluginsToOneDiXml/di.xml
+++ b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/addTwoPluginsToOneDiXml/di.xml
@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@
         xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:framework:ObjectManager/etc/config.xsd">
     <type name="Foo\Bar\Model\PluginTargetClassOne">
         <plugin name="test_plugin_name_1"
-                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestOnePlugin" sortOrder="10"/>
+                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestOnePlugin"
+                sortOrder="10"/>
     </type>
     <type name="Foo\Bar\Model\PluginTargetClassTwo">
         <plugin name="test_plugin_name_2"
-                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestTwoPlugin" sortOrder="20"/>
+                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestTwoPlugin"
+                sortOrder="20"/>
     </type>
 </config>
diff --git a/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/addTwoPluginsToOneTargetClass/di.xml b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/addTwoPluginsToOneTargetClass/di.xml
index 5f4aa8fa2..4e7a51e74 100644
--- a/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/addTwoPluginsToOneTargetClass/di.xml
+++ b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/addTwoPluginsToOneTargetClass/di.xml
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@
         xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:framework:ObjectManager/etc/config.xsd">
     <type name="Foo\Bar\Model\PluginTargetClassOne">
         <plugin name="test_plugin_name_1"
-                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestOnePlugin" sortOrder="10"/>
+                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestOnePlugin"
+                sortOrder="10"/>
         <plugin name="test_plugin_name_2"
-                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestTwoPlugin" sortOrder="20"/>
+                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestTwoPlugin"
+                sortOrder="20"/>
     </type>
 </config>
diff --git a/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileForAdminhtmlArea/di.xml b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileForAdminhtmlArea/di.xml
index 68c5acc74..290ad7910 100644
--- a/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileForAdminhtmlArea/di.xml
+++ b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileForAdminhtmlArea/di.xml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
         xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:framework:ObjectManager/etc/config.xsd">
     <type name="Foo\Bar\Model\PluginTargetClassTwo">
         <plugin name="test_plugin_name_2"
-                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestTwoPlugin" sortOrder="20"/>
+                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestTwoPlugin"
+                sortOrder="20"/>
     </type>
 </config>
diff --git a/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileForBaseArea/di.xml b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileForBaseArea/di.xml
index 9e6b3baf7..66938302a 100644
--- a/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileForBaseArea/di.xml
+++ b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileForBaseArea/di.xml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
         xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:framework:ObjectManager/etc/config.xsd">
     <type name="Foo\Bar\Model\PluginTargetClassOne">
         <plugin name="test_plugin_name_1"
-                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestOnePlugin" sortOrder="10"/>
+                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestOnePlugin"
+                sortOrder="10"/>
     </type>
 </config>
diff --git a/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileWithoutSortOrder/di.xml b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileWithoutSortOrder/di.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..83161f7e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testData/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGenerator/generatePluginDiXmlFileWithoutSortOrder/di.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<config xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+        xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:framework:ObjectManager/etc/config.xsd">
+    <type name="Foo\Bar\Model\PluginTargetClassOne">
+        <plugin name="test_plugin_name_1"
+                type="Foo\Bar\Plugin\TestOnePlugin"/>
+    </type>
+</config>
diff --git a/tests/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGeneratorTest.java b/tests/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGeneratorTest.java
index c3f2ea3d7..9358295c6 100644
--- a/tests/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGeneratorTest.java
+++ b/tests/com/magento/idea/magento2plugin/actions/generation/generator/PluginDiXmlGeneratorTest.java
@@ -24,6 +24,31 @@ public class PluginDiXmlGeneratorTest extends BaseGeneratorTestCase {
     private static final String PLUGIN_CLASS_TWO_FNQ = "Foo\\Bar\\Plugin\\TestTwoPlugin";
     private static final String MODULE = "Foo_Bar";
     private static final String MODULE_DIR = "src/app/code/Foo/Bar/";
+    private static final String TEST_PLUGIN_NAME = "test_plugin_name_1";
+
+    /**
+     * Test checks whether di.xml is generated correctly for the base area
+     */
+    public void testGeneratePluginDiXmlFileWithoutSortOrder() {
+        final PsiFile expectedFile = myFixture.configureByFile(
+                this.getFixturePath(ModuleDiXml.FILE_NAME)
+        );
+        final String area = Areas.base.toString();
+
+        final PsiFile diXml = addPluginDiXml(
+                PLUGIN_TARGET_CLASS_ONE_FNQ,
+                area,
+                "",
+                TEST_PLUGIN_NAME,
+                PLUGIN_CLASS_ONE_FNQ
+        );
+
+        assertGeneratedFileIsCorrect(
+                expectedFile,
+                getExpectedDirectory(area),
+                diXml
+        );
+    }
 
     /**
      * Test checks whether di.xml is generated correctly for the base area
@@ -37,7 +62,7 @@ public void testGeneratePluginDiXmlFileForBaseArea() {
                 PLUGIN_TARGET_CLASS_ONE_FNQ,
                 area,
                 "10",
-                "test_plugin_name_1",
+                TEST_PLUGIN_NAME,
                 PLUGIN_CLASS_ONE_FNQ
         );
 
@@ -82,7 +107,7 @@ public void testAddTwoPluginsToOneDiXml() {
                 PLUGIN_TARGET_CLASS_ONE_FNQ,
                 area,
                 "10",
-                "test_plugin_name_1",
+                TEST_PLUGIN_NAME,
                 PLUGIN_CLASS_ONE_FNQ
         );
         final PsiFile diXml = addPluginDiXml(
@@ -111,7 +136,7 @@ public void testAddTwoPluginsToOneTargetClass() {
                 PLUGIN_TARGET_CLASS_ONE_FNQ,
                 area,
                 "10",
-                "test_plugin_name_1",
+                TEST_PLUGIN_NAME,
                 PLUGIN_CLASS_ONE_FNQ
         );
         final PsiFile diXml = addPluginDiXml(