diff --git a/util/grub-mkconfig_lib.in b/util/grub-mkconfig_lib.in
index 301d1ac22..fa3de6008 100644
--- a/util/grub-mkconfig_lib.in
+++ b/util/grub-mkconfig_lib.in
@@ -204,16 +204,16 @@ version_sort ()
 {
   case $version_sort_sort_has_v in
     yes)
-      LC_ALL=C sort -V;;
+      LC_ALL=C sort -V "$@";;
     no)
-      LC_ALL=C sort -n;;
+      LC_ALL=C sort -n "$@";;
     *)
       if sort -V </dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1; then
         version_sort_sort_has_v=yes
-	LC_ALL=C sort -V
+	LC_ALL=C sort -V "$@"
       else
         version_sort_sort_has_v=no
-        LC_ALL=C sort -n
+        LC_ALL=C sort -n "$@"
       fi;;
    esac
 }
diff --git a/util/grub.d/10_linux.in b/util/grub.d/10_linux.in
index b4a4d6900..c6a1ec935 100644
--- a/util/grub.d/10_linux.in
+++ b/util/grub.d/10_linux.in
@@ -195,9 +195,15 @@ title_correction_code=
 # yet, so it's empty. In a submenu it will be equal to '\t' (one tab).
 submenu_indentation=""
 
+# Perform a reverse version sort on the entire list.
+# Temporarily replace the '.old' suffix by ' 1' and append ' 2' for all
+# other files to order the '.old' files after their non-old counterpart
+# in reverse-sorted order.
+
+reverse_sorted_list=$(echo $list | tr ' ' '\n' | sed -e 's/\.old$/ 1/; / 1$/! s/$/ 2/' | version_sort -r | sed -e 's/ 1$/.old/; s/ 2$//')
+
 is_top_level=true
-while [ "x$list" != "x" ] ; do
-  linux=`version_find_latest $list`
+for linux in ${reverse_sorted_list}; do
   gettext_printf "Found linux image: %s\n" "$linux" >&2
   basename=`basename $linux`
   dirname=`dirname $linux`
@@ -295,8 +301,6 @@ while [ "x$list" != "x" ] ; do
     linux_entry "${OS}" "${version}" recovery \
                 "${GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_RECOVERY} ${GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX}"
   fi
-
-  list=`echo $list | tr ' ' '\n' | fgrep -vx "$linux" | tr '\n' ' '`
 done
 
 # If at least one kernel was found, then we need to