diff --git a/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb b/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
index e79432ac6..01ef84c76 100644
--- a/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
@@ -10,9 +10,7 @@ class PostsController < ApplicationController
         format.html { redirect_to(@post) }
       end
     else
-      limit = params[:limit] || (params[:tags] =~ /(?:^|\s)limit:(\d+)(?:$|\s)/ && $1) || CurrentUser.user.per_page
-      @random = params[:random] || params[:tags] =~ /(?:^|\s)order:random(?:$|\s)/
-      @post_set = PostSets::Post.new(tag_query, params[:page], limit, raw: params[:raw], random: @random, format: params[:format], read_only: params[:ro])
+      @post_set = PostSets::Post.new(tag_query, params[:page], params[:limit], raw: params[:raw], random: params[:random], format: params[:format], read_only: params[:ro])
       @posts = @post_set.posts
       respond_with(@posts) do |format|
         format.atom
diff --git a/app/logical/post_sets/post.rb b/app/logical/post_sets/post.rb
index 32faedcbe..6f8b359b5 100644
--- a/app/logical/post_sets/post.rb
+++ b/app/logical/post_sets/post.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 module PostSets
   class Post < PostSets::Base
-    attr_reader :tag_array, :page, :per_page, :raw, :random, :post_count, :format, :read_only
+    MAX_PER_PAGE = 200
+    attr_reader :tag_array, :page, :raw, :random, :post_count, :format, :read_only
 
     def initialize(tags, page = 1, per_page = nil, options = {})
       @tag_array = Tag.scan_query(tags)
       @page = page
-      @per_page = (per_page || CurrentUser.per_page).to_i
-      @per_page = 200 if @per_page > 200
+      @per_page = per_page
       @raw = options[:raw].present?
       @random = options[:random].present?
       @format = options[:format] || "html"
@@ -102,6 +102,14 @@ module PostSets
       posts.select { |p| p.safeblocked? && !p.levelblocked? && !p.banblocked? }
     end
 
+    def per_page
+      (@per_page || Tag.has_metatag?(tag_array, :limit) || CurrentUser.user.per_page).to_i.clamp(0, MAX_PER_PAGE)
+    end
+
+    def is_random?
+      random || Tag.has_metatag?(tag_array, :order) == "random"
+    end
+
     def use_sequential_paginator?
       unknown_post_count? && !CurrentUser.is_gold?
     end
@@ -129,7 +137,7 @@ module PostSets
       @posts ||= begin
         @post_count = get_post_count()
 
-        if random
+        if is_random?
           temp = get_random_posts()
         elsif raw
           temp = ::Post.raw_tag_match(tag_string).order("posts.id DESC").where("true /* PostSets::Post#posts:1 */").paginate(page, :count => post_count, :limit => per_page)
diff --git a/app/models/tag.rb b/app/models/tag.rb
index df31b9b4c..c563c8549 100644
--- a/app/models/tag.rb
+++ b/app/models/tag.rb
@@ -445,6 +445,13 @@ class Tag < ApplicationRecord
       tag.include?("*")
     end
 
+    def has_metatag?(tags, *metatags)
+      return nil if tags.blank?
+
+      tags = scan_query(tags.to_str) if tags.respond_to?(:to_str)
+      tags.grep(/\A#{Regexp.union(metatags.map(&:to_s))}:(.+)\z/i) { $1 }.first
+    end
+
     def parse_query(query, options = {})
       q = {}
 
diff --git a/app/views/posts/partials/index/_posts.html.erb b/app/views/posts/partials/index/_posts.html.erb
index e3e014082..53a33e3f9 100644
--- a/app/views/posts/partials/index/_posts.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/posts/partials/index/_posts.html.erb
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     </div>
   <% end %>
 
-  <% unless @random.present? %>
+  <% unless post_set.is_random? %>
     <%= numbered_paginator(post_set.posts) %>
   <% end %>
 </div>
diff --git a/test/functional/posts_controller_test.rb b/test/functional/posts_controller_test.rb
index dad1b9d83..283fa3303 100644
--- a/test/functional/posts_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/functional/posts_controller_test.rb
@@ -89,6 +89,16 @@ class PostsControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
           assert_redirected_to(@post)
         end
       end
+
+      context "with a random search" do
+        should "render" do
+          get posts_path, params: { tags: "order:random" }
+          assert_response :success
+
+          get posts_path, params: { random: "1" }
+          assert_response :success
+        end
+      end
     end
 
     context "show_seq action" do
diff --git a/test/unit/post_sets/post_test.rb b/test/unit/post_sets/post_test.rb
index 1ddf6a62f..93db94d0e 100644
--- a/test/unit/post_sets/post_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/post_sets/post_test.rb
@@ -161,6 +161,19 @@ module PostSets
           end
         end
       end
+
+      context "#per_page method" do
+        should "take the limit from the params first, then the limit:<n> metatag, then the account settings" do
+          set = PostSets::Post.new("a limit:23 b", 1, 42)
+          assert_equal(42, set.per_page)
+
+          set = PostSets::Post.new("a limit:23 b", 1, nil)
+          assert_equal(23, set.per_page)
+
+          set = PostSets::Post.new("a", 1, nil)
+          assert_equal(CurrentUser.user.per_page, set.per_page)
+        end
+      end
     end
   end
 end