diff --git a/compiler/rustc_errors/src/emitter.rs b/compiler/rustc_errors/src/emitter.rs
index d673646ace4..0e9c7ef5fb3 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_errors/src/emitter.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_errors/src/emitter.rs
@@ -2564,9 +2564,7 @@ fn num_decimal_digits(num: usize) -> usize {
 
 // We replace some characters so the CLI output is always consistent and underlines aligned.
 // Keep the following list in sync with `rustc_span::char_width`.
-// ATTENTION: keep lexicografically sorted so that the binary search will work
 const OUTPUT_REPLACEMENTS: &[(char, &str)] = &[
-    // tidy-alphabetical-start
     // In terminals without Unicode support the following will be garbled, but in *all* terminals
     // the underlying codepoint will be as well. We could gate this replacement behind a "unicode
     // support" gate.
@@ -2579,7 +2577,7 @@ fn num_decimal_digits(num: usize) -> usize {
     ('\u{0006}', "␆"),
     ('\u{0007}', "␇"),
     ('\u{0008}', "␈"),
-    ('\u{0009}', "    "), // We do our own tab replacement
+    ('\t', "    "), // We do our own tab replacement
     ('\u{000b}', "␋"),
     ('\u{000c}', "␌"),
     ('\u{000d}', "␍"),
@@ -2612,10 +2610,20 @@ fn num_decimal_digits(num: usize) -> usize {
     ('\u{2067}', "�"),
     ('\u{2068}', "�"),
     ('\u{2069}', "�"),
-    // tidy-alphabetical-end
 ];
 
 fn normalize_whitespace(s: &str) -> String {
+    const {
+        let mut i = 1;
+        while i < OUTPUT_REPLACEMENTS.len() {
+            assert!(
+                OUTPUT_REPLACEMENTS[i - 1].0 < OUTPUT_REPLACEMENTS[i].0,
+                "The OUTPUT_REPLACEMENTS array must be sorted (for binary search to work) \
+                and must contain no duplicate entries"
+            );
+            i += 1;
+        }
+    }
     // Scan the input string for a character in the ordered table above. If it's present, replace
     // it with it's alternative string (it can be more than 1 char!). Otherwise, retain the input
     // char. At the end, allocate all chars into a string in one operation.