diff --git a/visidata/shell.py b/visidata/shell.py
index ed6d76786..7dde5165d 100644
--- a/visidata/shell.py
+++ b/visidata/shell.py
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class DirSheet(Sheet):
         Column('filetype', width=0, cache='async', getter=lambda col,row: subprocess.Popen(['file', '--brief', row], stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE).communicate()[0].strip()),
     ]
     nKeys = 2
-    _ordering = [('modtime', True)]  # sort by reverse modtime initially
+    _ordering = [('modtime', True), ('filename', False)]  # sort by reverse modtime initially
 
     @staticmethod
     def colorOwner(sheet, col, row, val):