diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index a37cf91..5ca4c56 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Check float vectors
         run: make check-float-vectors
 
+      - name: Check option order
+        run: make check-option-order
+
   test:
     needs: check
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 28a47c9..5248cb3 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -452,6 +452,20 @@ deliver them, but `parse_descriptor_set` skips any file whose package is
 `check-schema` fails. `test/test_messages_proto3.proto` is vendored with those
 fields trimmed for that reason. Tracked as FL-17.
 
+**Message options are sorted by field number, and the sort is load-bearing.** protoc
+does not serialize extension options in a stable order: 3.21 and 22.5 emit them in
+`.proto` declaration order, 23.4 and later ascending by number. The generator reads
+those bytes back, so without the sort the same `.proto` produces two different Lua
+files depending on the toolchain, and a consumer's drift check reports a false
+positive against an unpinned protoc. `make check-option-order` guards it.
+
+That check builds its descriptor by hand rather than from a fixture. Under a modern
+protoc an unsorted generator already emits ascending, so a fixture would pass on the
+defect everywhere except an old-protoc CI runner; feeding the options in descending
+order is what makes the check fail on a revert under every protoc. CI installs
+Ubuntu's `protobuf-compiler`, which is 3.21.12 on noble, so `check-types` and
+`check-schema` run on the declaration-order side of that split.
+
 ## Building
 
 The build process uses `amalg` to create single-file distributions:
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 84a7251..9f7531c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -249,6 +249,15 @@ check-float-vectors:
 	@echo "Checked-in float vectors match the generator."
 	@LUA_BINARY=$(LUA_BINARY) .venv/bin/python3 tools/check_float_vectors
 
+# Check the generator sorts message options. Needs the venv, so not in `check`.
+.PHONY: check-option-order
+check-option-order:
+	@if [ ! -f .venv/bin/python3 ]; then \
+		echo "Python virtual environment not found. Run 'make setup-schema-generator' first."; \
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
+	@.venv/bin/python3 tools/check_option_order
+
 # Format Lua code with stylua
 .PHONY: format
 format:
diff --git a/tools/check_option_order b/tools/check_option_order
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8503b45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/check_option_order
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Verify message options are emitted in ascending field number order.
+
+protoc does not serialize extension options in a stable order: 3.21 and 22.5 emit
+them in `.proto` declaration order, 23.4 and later ascending by field number. The
+generator reads those bytes back, so without a sort its output depends on which
+protoc built the descriptor.
+
+A fixture `.proto` cannot check this on its own. Under a modern protoc an unsorted
+generator already emits ascending, so the check would pass on the defect and only
+fail where CI happens to install an old protoc. The descriptor here is therefore
+built by hand with the options in descending order, which is the one input that
+tells a sorted generator from an unsorted one under every protoc.
+
+1. Setup: the options really do arrive descending, so the comparison is not vacuous.
+2. Order: the generator emits them ascending.
+"""
+import os
+import re
+import sys
+
+from google.protobuf.descriptor_pb2 import DescriptorProto
+from google.protobuf.internal import decoder, encoder
+
+_GEN = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), "gen_lua_proto_schema")
+_module = type(sys)("gen_lua_proto_schema")
+exec(compile(open(_GEN).read(), _GEN, "exec"), _module.__dict__)
+
+# Numbers and shapes mirror ESPHome's api_options.proto, the schema that surfaced this.
+EXTENSIONS = {1036: "id", 1038: "ifdef", 1041: "base_class"}
+
+
+def varint(number: int, value: int) -> bytes:
+    out = bytearray()
+    write = encoder._VarintEncoder()
+    write(out.extend, number << 3 | 0, True)
+    write(out.extend, value, True)
+    return bytes(out)
+
+
+def length_delimited(number: int, value: str) -> bytes:
+    out = bytearray()
+    write = encoder._VarintEncoder()
+    write(out.extend, number << 3 | 2, True)
+    encoded = value.encode()
+    write(out.extend, len(encoded), True)
+    out.extend(encoded)
+    return bytes(out)
+
+
+def wire_order(raw: bytes) -> list[int]:
+    """Field numbers in the order they appear in `raw`."""
+    pos = 0
+    numbers = []
+    while pos < len(raw):
+        tag, pos = decoder._DecodeVarint(raw, pos)
+        numbers.append(tag >> 3)
+        if tag & 0x7 == 0:
+            _, pos = decoder._DecodeVarint(raw, pos)
+        else:
+            length, pos = decoder._DecodeVarint(raw, pos)
+            pos += length
+    return numbers
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    failures = []
+
+    message = DescriptorProto()
+    message.name = "OptionOrder"
+    message.options.MergeFromString(
+        length_delimited(1041, "BaseProtoMessage") + varint(1038, 1) + varint(1036, 3)
+    )
+
+    arrived = wire_order(message.options.SerializeToString())
+    expected_input = sorted(EXTENSIONS, reverse=True)
+    if arrived != expected_input:
+        failures.append(
+            "options did not arrive descending: %s, wanted %s. The generator would be "
+            "handed sorted input and the order assertion below would pass on any "
+            "generator." % (arrived, expected_input)
+        )
+
+    lua = _module.parse_message(message, message_option_extensions=EXTENSIONS)
+    body = lua.split("options = {", 1)[1].split("}", 1)[0]
+    emitted = re.findall(r"^\s*(\w+) = ", body, re.MULTILINE)
+    wanted = [EXTENSIONS[number] for number in sorted(EXTENSIONS)]
+    if emitted != wanted:
+        failures.append("emitted %s, wanted %s" % (emitted, wanted))
+
+    print("Option order: %d options fed in descending order, emitted as %s"
+          % (len(arrived), emitted))
+    for detail in failures:
+        print("  FAIL: " + detail)
+    if failures:
+        print("Option order: FAILED")
+        return 1
+    print("Option order: the generator sorts by field number")
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/tools/gen_lua_proto_schema b/tools/gen_lua_proto_schema
index 456c93d..8fe4827 100755
--- a/tools/gen_lua_proto_schema
+++ b/tools/gen_lua_proto_schema
@@ -295,8 +295,11 @@ def parse_message(
         # Some messages extend MessageOptions in a way that does not get parsed
         # into the Extensions field but is available in the raw data.
         if len(message.options.Extensions) == 0 and message_option_extensions:
-            for num, typ, val in parse_unknown_fields(
-                    message.options.SerializeToString()
+            # protoc does not serialize these in a stable order: 3.21 and 22.5 emit
+            # them in .proto declaration order, 23.4 and later ascending by number.
+            for num, typ, val in sorted(
+                    parse_unknown_fields(message.options.SerializeToString()),
+                    key=lambda unknown: unknown[0],
             ):
                 if num not in message_option_extensions:
                     continue
@@ -308,7 +311,7 @@ def parse_message(
                     val = f"\"{val.decode('utf-8', 'replace')}\""
                 lua += ("  " * (indent + 2)) + f"{name} = {val},\n"
         else:
-            for field in message.options.Extensions:
+            for field in sorted(message.options.Extensions, key=lambda ext: ext.number):
                 if not new_line_added:
                     lua += "\n"
                     new_line_added = True