diff --git a/src/uucore/src/lib/mods/version_cmp.rs b/src/uucore/src/lib/mods/version_cmp.rs
index 99b8c8b402c..828b7f2a668 100644
--- a/src/uucore/src/lib/mods/version_cmp.rs
+++ b/src/uucore/src/lib/mods/version_cmp.rs
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ pub fn version_cmp(mut a: &str, mut b: &str) -> Ordering {
     // 1. Compare leading non-numerical part
     // 2. Compare leading numerical part
     // 3. Repeat
-    loop {
+    while !a.is_empty() || !b.is_empty() {
         let a_numerical_start = a.find(|c: char| c.is_ascii_digit()).unwrap_or(a.len());
         let b_numerical_start = b.find(|c: char| c.is_ascii_digit()).unwrap_or(b.len());
 
@@ -139,12 +139,9 @@ pub fn version_cmp(mut a: &str, mut b: &str) -> Ordering {
 
         a = &a[a_numerical_end..];
         b = &b[b_numerical_end..];
-
-        if a.is_empty() && b.is_empty() {
-            // Default to the lexical comparison.
-            return str_cmp;
-        }
     }
+
+    Ordering::Equal
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
@@ -229,14 +226,14 @@ mod tests {
         // Leading zeroes
         assert_eq!(
             version_cmp("012", "12"),
-            Ordering::Less,
-            "A single leading zero can make a difference"
+            Ordering::Equal,
+            "A single leading zero does not make a difference"
         );
 
         assert_eq!(
             version_cmp("000800", "0000800"),
-            Ordering::Greater,
-            "Leading number of zeroes is used even if both non-zero number of zeros"
+            Ordering::Equal,
+            "Multiple leading zeros do not make a difference"
         );
 
         // Numbers and other characters combined
@@ -280,14 +277,8 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert_eq!(
             version_cmp("aa10aa0022", "aa010aa022"),
-            Ordering::Greater,
-            "The leading zeroes of the first number has priority."
-        );
-
-        assert_eq!(
-            version_cmp("aa10aa0022", "aa10aa022"),
-            Ordering::Less,
-            "The leading zeroes of other numbers than the first are used."
+            Ordering::Equal,
+            "Test multiple numeric values with leading zeros"
         );
 
         assert_eq!(
@@ -307,7 +298,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert_eq!(
             version_cmp("aa2000000000000000000000bb", "aa002000000000000000000000bb"),
-            Ordering::Greater,
+            Ordering::Equal,
             "Leading zeroes for numbers larger than u64::MAX are \
             handled correctly without crashing"
         );
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs b/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
index ad2c6424f69..f376cf53d8c 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
@@ -2312,56 +2312,15 @@ fn test_ls_version_sort() {
     let scene = TestScenario::new(util_name!());
     let at = &scene.fixtures;
     for filename in [
-        "a2",
-        "b1",
-        "b20",
-        "a1.4",
-        "a1.40",
-        "b3",
-        "b11",
-        "b20b",
-        "b20a",
-        "a100",
-        "a1.13",
-        "aa",
-        "a1",
-        "aaa",
-        "a1.00000040",
-        "abab",
-        "ab",
-        "a01.40",
-        "a001.001",
-        "a01.0000001",
-        "a01.001",
-        "a001.01",
+        "a2", "b1", "b20", "a1.4", "b3", "b11", "b20b", "b20a", "a100", "a1.13", "aa", "a1", "aaa",
+        "abab", "ab", "a01.40", "a001.001",
     ] {
         at.touch(filename);
     }
 
     let mut expected = vec![
-        "a1",
-        "a001.001",
-        "a001.01",
-        "a01.0000001",
-        "a01.001",
-        "a1.4",
-        "a1.13",
-        "a01.40",
-        "a1.00000040",
-        "a1.40",
-        "a2",
-        "a100",
-        "aa",
-        "aaa",
-        "ab",
-        "abab",
-        "b1",
-        "b3",
-        "b11",
-        "b20",
-        "b20a",
-        "b20b",
-        "", // because of '\n' at the end of the output
+        "a1", "a001.001", "a1.4", "a1.13", "a01.40", "a2", "a100", "aa", "aaa", "ab", "abab", "b1",
+        "b3", "b11", "b20", "b20a", "b20b", "", // because of '\n' at the end of the output
     ];
 
     let result = scene.ucmd().arg("-1v").succeeds();
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs b/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
index e66a405abbb..0c8af8969f2 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
@@ -134,6 +134,25 @@ fn test_version_empty_lines() {
     test_helper("version-empty-lines", &["-V", "--version-sort"]);
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_version_sort_unstable() {
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .arg("--sort=version")
+        .pipe_in("0.1\n0.02\n0.2\n0.002\n0.3\n")
+        .succeeds()
+        .stdout_is("0.1\n0.002\n0.02\n0.2\n0.3\n");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_version_sort_stable() {
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .arg("--stable")
+        .arg("--sort=version")
+        .pipe_in("0.1\n0.02\n0.2\n0.002\n0.3\n")
+        .succeeds()
+        .stdout_is("0.1\n0.02\n0.2\n0.002\n0.3\n");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_human_numeric_whitespace() {
     test_helper(