diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtgate.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtgate.txt
index b3ae6b5e631..3ad64d48358 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtgate.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtgate.txt
@@ -147,6 +147,8 @@ Usage of vtgate:
 	Send unnormalized SQL for individually reported queries
   --insights_raw_queries_max_length uint
 	Maximum size for unnormalized SQL (default 8192)
+  --insights_reorder_threshold uint
+	Reorder INSERT columns if more than this many redundant patterns in an interval (default 5)
   --insights_rows_read_threshold uint
 	Report individual transactions that read (scan) at least this many rows (default 10000)
   --insights_rt_threshold uint
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/insights.go b/go/vt/vtgate/insights.go
index d730af20796..b2ead9772f2 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/insights.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/insights.go
@@ -64,10 +64,6 @@ const (
 	BrokersVar            = "INSIGHTS_KAFKA_BROKERS"
 	UsernameVar           = "INSIGHTS_KAFKA_USERNAME"
 	PasswordVar           = "INSIGHTS_KAFKA_PASSWORD"
-
-	// normalize more aggressively by alphabetizing INSERT columns if there are more than this many
-	// otherwise identical patterns in a single interval
-	ReorderColumnThreshold = 5
 )
 
 type QueryPatternAggregation struct {
@@ -116,6 +112,7 @@ type Insights struct {
 	KafkaText              bool // use human-readable pb, for tests and debugging
 	SendRawQueries         bool
 	MaxRawQueryLength      uint
+	ReorderThreshold       uint // alphabetize columns if >= this many redundant patterns in 15s
 
 	// state
 	KafkaWriter          *kafka.Writer
@@ -127,7 +124,7 @@ type Insights struct {
 	Workers              sync.WaitGroup
 	QueriesThisInterval  uint
 	ReorderInsertColumns bool
-	ColIndependentHashes map[uint32]int
+	ColIndependentHashes map[uint32]uint
 
 	// log state: we limit some log messages to once per 15s because they're caused by behavior the
 	// client controls
@@ -181,6 +178,10 @@ var (
 
 	// insightsRawQueriesMaxLength is the longest string, in bytes, we will send as the RawSql field in a Kafka message
 	insightsRawQueriesMaxLength = flag.Uint("insights_raw_queries_max_length", 8192, "Maximum size for unnormalized SQL")
+
+	// normalize more aggressively by alphabetizing INSERT columns if there are more than this many
+	// otherwise identical patterns in a single interval
+	insightsReorderThreshold = flag.Uint("insights_reorder_threshold", 5, "Reorder INSERT columns if more than this many redundant patterns in an interval")
 )
 
 func initInsights(logger *streamlog.StreamLogger) (*Insights, error) {
@@ -195,6 +196,7 @@ func initInsights(logger *streamlog.StreamLogger) (*Insights, error) {
 		*insightsRTThreshold,
 		*insightsMaxQueriesPerInterval,
 		*insightsRawQueriesMaxLength,
+		*insightsReorderThreshold,
 		time.Duration(*insightsFlushInterval)*time.Second,
 		*insightsKafkaText,
 		*insightsRawQueries,
@@ -203,7 +205,7 @@ func initInsights(logger *streamlog.StreamLogger) (*Insights, error) {
 
 func initInsightsInner(logger *streamlog.StreamLogger,
 	brokers, publicID, username, password string,
-	bufsize, patternLimit, rowsReadThreshold, responseTimeThreshold, maxQueriesPerInterval, maxRawQueryLength uint,
+	bufsize, patternLimit, rowsReadThreshold, responseTimeThreshold, maxQueriesPerInterval, maxRawQueryLength, reorderThreshold uint,
 	interval time.Duration,
 	kafkaText, sendRawQueries bool) (*Insights, error) {
 
@@ -229,6 +231,7 @@ func initInsightsInner(logger *streamlog.StreamLogger,
 		KafkaText:              kafkaText,
 		SendRawQueries:         sendRawQueries,
 		MaxRawQueryLength:      maxRawQueryLength,
+		ReorderThreshold:       reorderThreshold,
 	}
 	insights.Sender = insights.sendToKafka
 	err := insights.logToKafka(logger)
@@ -267,7 +270,7 @@ func (ii *Insights) startInterval() {
 	ii.QueriesThisInterval = 0
 	ii.Aggregations = make(map[QueryPatternKey]*QueryPatternAggregation)
 	ii.PeriodStart = time.Now()
-	ii.ColIndependentHashes = make(map[uint32]int)
+	ii.ColIndependentHashes = make(map[uint32]uint)
 }
 
 func (ii *Insights) shouldSendToInsights(ls *logstats.LogStats) bool {
@@ -595,7 +598,7 @@ func (ii *Insights) addToAggregates(ls *logstats.LogStats, sql string, ciHash *u
 
 		if ciHash != nil && !ii.ReorderInsertColumns {
 			ii.ColIndependentHashes[*ciHash]++
-			if ii.ColIndependentHashes[*ciHash] >= ReorderColumnThreshold {
+			if ii.ColIndependentHashes[*ciHash] >= ii.ReorderThreshold {
 				log.Info("Enabling ReorderInsertColumns")
 				ii.ReorderInsertColumns = true
 			}
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/insights_test.go b/go/vt/vtgate/insights_test.go
index cd8604e4ec7..f8f24c32bfa 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/insights_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/insights_test.go
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func setup(t *testing.T, brokers, publicID, username, password string, options s
 		dfl(options.responseTimeThreshold, 1000),
 		dfl(options.maxPerInterval, 100),
 		dfl(options.maxRawQuerySize, 64),
-		15*time.Second, true, true)
+		5, 15*time.Second, true, true)
 	if insights != nil {
 		t.Cleanup(func() { insights.Drain() })
 	}