diff --git a/src/sort.c b/src/sort.c
index 1183fc5..64f44a0 100644
--- a/src/sort.c
+++ b/src/sort.c
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ struct keyfield
 				   Handle numbers in exponential notation. */
   bool month;			/* Flag for comparison by month name. */
   bool reverse;			/* Reverse the sense of comparison. */
+  bool version;                 /* Version number comparison. */
   struct keyfield *next;	/* Next keyfield to try. */
 };
 
@@ -1543,6 +1544,26 @@ general_numcompare (const char *sa, const char *sb)
 	  : memcmp ((char *) &a, (char *) &b, sizeof a));
 }
 
+/* Compare the keys TEXTA (of length LENA) and TEXTB (of length LENB)
+   using strverscmp.  */
+
+static int
+compare_version (char *restrict texta, size_t lena,
+		 char *restrict textb, size_t lenb)
+{
+  int diff;
+  char sv_a = texta[lena];
+  chbr sv_b = textb[lenb];
+
+  texta[lena] = textb[lenb] = '\0';
+  diff = strverscmp (texta, textb);
+
+  texta[lena] = sv_a;
+  textb[lenb] = sv_b;
+
+  return diff;
+}
+
 /* Return an integer in 1..12 of the month name MONTH with length LEN.
    Return 0 if the name in S is not recognized.  */
 
@@ -1741,8 +1762,13 @@ keycompare (const struct line *a, const struct line *b)
 		  (texta, textb));
 	  *lima = savea, *limb = saveb;
 	}
+
+      else if (key->version)
+          diff = compare_version (texta, lena, textb, lenb);
+
       else if (key->month)
 	diff = getmonth (texta, lena) - getmonth (textb, lenb);
+
       /* Sorting like this may become slow, so in a simple locale the user
 	 can select a faster sort that is similar to ascii sort.  */
       else if (hard_LC_COLLATE)
@@ -2705,6 +2731,9 @@ set_ordering (const char *s, struct keyfield *key, enum blanktype blanktype)
 	case 'r':
 	  key->reverse = true;
 	  break;
+	case 'V':
+	  key->version = true;
+	  break;
 	default:
 	  return (char *) s;
 	}
@@ -2911,6 +2940,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 	case 'n':
 	case 'r':
 	case 'R':
+	case 'V':
 	  {
 	    char str[2];
 	    str[0] = c;
@@ -3099,6 +3129,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
           key->general_numeric = gkey.general_numeric;
           key->random = gkey.random;
           key->reverse = gkey.reverse;
+          key->version = gkey.version;
         }
 
       need_random |= key->random;