patchls-remote: create option to sort by versions

diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..740c6f117 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -33,11 +34,20 @@ static int tail_match(const char **pattern, const char *path)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int cmp_ref_versions(const void *_a, const void *_b)
+{
+	const struct ref *a = *(const struct ref **)_a;
+	const struct ref *b = *(const struct ref **)_b;
+
+	return versioncmp(a->name, b->name);
+}
+
 int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
 	const char *dest = NULL;
 	unsigned flags = 0;
 	int get_url = 0;
+	int version_sort = 0;
 	int quiet = 0;
 	int status = 0;
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
@@ -47,6 +57,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	const struct ref **refs = NULL;
+	int nr = 0;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +72,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_BOOL('V', "version-sort", &version_sort,
+			 N_("sort tags by version numbers")),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -101,13 +115,22 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (transport_disconnect(transport))
 		return 1;
 
-	if (!dest && !quiet)
-		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
 	for ( ; ref; ref = ref->next) {
 		if (!check_ref_type(ref, flags))
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+		REALLOC_ARRAY(refs, nr + 1);
+		refs[nr++] = ref;
+	}
+
+	if (version_sort)
+		QSORT(refs, nr, cmp_ref_versions);
+
+	if (!dest && !quiet)
+		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
+	for (int i = 0; i < nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref *ref = refs[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
 			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
 		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..17fae7218 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
+	descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
+	multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
+	key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
+	names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
+	order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
+	configuration variable.
+	The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..7e2d820c4 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +63,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +73,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&array, 0, sizeof(array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -104,13 +111,28 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (!dest && !quiet)
 		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
 	for ( ; ref; ref = ref->next) {
+		struct ref_array_item *item;
 		if (!check_ref_type(ref, flags))
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+
+		FLEX_ALLOC_MEM(item, refname, ref->name, strlen(ref->name));
+		item->symref = ref->symref;
+		item->objectname = ref->old_oid;
+
+		REALLOC_ARRAY(array.items, array.nr + 1);
+		array.items[array.nr++] = item;
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
 	return status;
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..66370cd88 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -178,6 +214,9 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..17fae7218 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
+	descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
+	multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
+	key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
+	names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
+	order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
+	configuration variable.
+	The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..113a2fd7d 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -43,10 +44,13 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
 	const char *uploadpack = NULL;
 	const char **pattern = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&array, 0, sizeof(array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -104,13 +112,28 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (!dest && !quiet)
 		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
 	for ( ; ref; ref = ref->next) {
+		struct ref_array_item *item;
 		if (!check_ref_type(ref, flags))
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+
+		FLEX_ALLOC_MEM(item, refname, ref->name, strlen(ref->name));
+		item->symref = ref->symref;
+		item->objectname = ref->old_oid;
+
+		REALLOC_ARRAY(array.items, array.nr + 1);
+		array.items[array.nr++] = item;
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
 	return status;
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..66370cd88 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -178,6 +214,9 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..17fae7218 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
+	descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
+	multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
+	key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
+	names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
+	order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
+	configuration variable.
+	The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..5521c72f4 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +63,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +73,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&array, 0, sizeof(array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -108,9 +115,25 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+
+		struct ref_array_item *item;
+		FLEX_ALLOC_MEM(item, refname, ref->name, strlen(ref->name));
+		item->symref = ref->symref;
+		item->objectname = ref->old_oid;
+
+		REALLOC_ARRAY(array.items, array.nr + 1);
+		array.items[array.nr++] = item;
+	}
+
+	if (sorting) {
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
+	}
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
 	return status;
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..66370cd88 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -178,6 +214,9 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..17fae7218 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
+	descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
+	multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
+	key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
+	names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
+	order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
+	configuration variable.
+	The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..5bb8ee68a 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -43,10 +44,13 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
 	const char *uploadpack = NULL;
 	const char **pattern = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&array, 0, sizeof(array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -104,13 +112,28 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (!dest && !quiet)
 		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
 	for ( ; ref; ref = ref->next) {
+		struct ref_array_item *item;
 		if (!check_ref_type(ref, flags))
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+
+		FLEX_ALLOC_MEM(item, refname, ref->name, strlen(ref->name));
+		item->symref = ref->symref;
+		item->objectname = ref->old_oid;
+
+		ALLOC_GROW(array.items, array.nr + 1, array.alloc);
+		array.items[array.nr++] = item;
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
 	return status;
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..66370cd88 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -178,6 +214,9 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..fa4505fd7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,19 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
+	descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
+	multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
+	key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
+	names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
+	order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
+	configuration variable.
+	The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`,
+	except that because `ls-remote` deals only with remotes, keys like
+	`committerdate` that require access to the objects themselves will
+	not work.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..fbec2bc95 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -43,10 +44,13 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
 	const char *uploadpack = NULL;
 	const char **pattern = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&array, 0, sizeof(array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -104,13 +112,28 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (!dest && !quiet)
 		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
 	for ( ; ref; ref = ref->next) {
+		struct ref_array_item *item;
 		if (!check_ref_type(ref, flags))
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+
+		FLEX_ALLOC_STR(item, refname, ref->name);
+		item->symref = xstrdup_or_null(ref->symref);
+		oidcpy(&item->objectname, &ref->old_oid);
+
+		ALLOC_GROW(array.items, array.nr + 1, array.alloc);
+		array.items[array.nr++] = item;
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
 	return status;
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..66370cd88 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -178,6 +214,9 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

builtin/tag.c, builtin/verify-tag.c, ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/builtin/tag.c b/builtin/tag.c
index da186691ed..42278f5167 100644
--- a/builtin/tag.c
+++ b/builtin/tag.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ static int verify_tag(const char *name, const char *ref,
 		return -1;
 
 	if (format->format)
-		pretty_print_ref(name, oid->hash, format);
+		pretty_print_ref(name, oid, format);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/builtin/verify-tag.c b/builtin/verify-tag.c
index ad7b79fa5c..6fa04b751a 100644
--- a/builtin/verify-tag.c
+++ b/builtin/verify-tag.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ int cmd_verify_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 
 		if (format.format)
-			pretty_print_ref(name, oid.hash, &format);
+			pretty_print_ref(name, &oid, &format);
 	}
 	return had_error;
 }
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 45fc56216a..ade97a8486 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1826,12 +1826,12 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 
 /* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const unsigned char *objectname,
+						 const struct object_id *oid,
 						 int flag)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
-	hashcpy(ref->objectname.hash, objectname);
+	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
 	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
@@ -1927,7 +1927,7 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid->hash, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
@@ -2165,11 +2165,11 @@ void show_ref_array_item(struct ref_array_item *info,
 	putchar('\n');
 }
 
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, sha1, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 0d98342b34..68268f9ebc 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
  * Print a single ref, outside of any ref-filter. Note that the
  * name must be a fully qualified refname.
  */
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index ade97a8486..c1c3cc9480 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1824,15 +1824,18 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-/* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
+/*
+ * Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the name and oid to it.
+ *
+ * Callers can then fill in other struct members at their leisure.
+ */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const struct object_id *oid,
-						 int flag)
+						 const struct object_id *oid)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
+
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
 	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
-	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
 }
@@ -1927,12 +1930,13 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
+	ref->flag = flag;
+	ref->kind = kind;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
 	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
-	ref->kind = kind;
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -2169,7 +2173,7 @@ void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);

ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index c1c3cc9480..6e9328b274 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1840,6 +1840,18 @@ static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
 	return ref;
 }
 
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid)
+{
+	struct ref_array_item *ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+
+	ALLOC_GROW(array->items, array->nr + 1, array->alloc);
+	array->items[array->nr++] = ref;
+
+	return ref;
+}
+
 static int ref_kind_from_refname(const char *refname)
 {
 	unsigned int i;
@@ -1930,13 +1942,11 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+	ref = ref_array_push(ref_cbdata->array, refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 	ref->flag = flag;
 	ref->kind = kind;
 
-	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
-	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 68268f9ebc..76cf87cb6c 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -135,4 +135,12 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
 void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
+/*
+ * Push a single ref onto the array; this can be used to construct your own
+ * ref_array without using filter_refs().
+ */
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid);
+
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..fa4505fd7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,19 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
+	descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
+	multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
+	key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
+	names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
+	order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
+	configuration variable.
+	The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`,
+	except that because `ls-remote` deals only with remotes, keys like
+	`committerdate` that require access to the objects themselves will
+	not work.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..f87b2657c 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -43,10 +44,13 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
 	const char *uploadpack = NULL;
 	const char **pattern = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&array, 0, sizeof(array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -108,9 +116,17 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+		ref_array_push(&array, ref);
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
 	return status;
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 45fc56216..a5686dacd 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1861,6 +1861,18 @@ static int ref_kind_from_refname(const char *refname)
 	return FILTER_REFS_OTHERS;
 }
 
+void ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array, const struct ref *ref)
+{
+	struct ref_array_item *item;
+
+	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(item, refname, ref->name);
+	item->symref = xstrdup_or_null(ref->symref);
+	oidcpy(&item->objectname, &ref->old_oid);
+
+	ALLOC_GROW(array->items, array->nr + 1, array->alloc);
+	array->items[array->nr++] = item;
+}
+
 static int filter_ref_kind(struct ref_filter *filter, const char *refname)
 {
 	if (filter->kind == FILTER_REFS_BRANCHES ||
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 0d98342b3..43e713a72 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -127,6 +127,8 @@ int parse_opt_merge_filter(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 char *get_head_description(void);
 /*  Set up translated strings in the output. */
 void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
+/*  Create a ref_array_item from a ref and push it to the ref_array */
+void ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array, const struct ref *ref);
 
 /*
  * Print a single ref, outside of any ref-filter. Note that the
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..66370cd88 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -178,6 +214,9 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..fa4505fd7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,19 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
+	descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
+	multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
+	key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
+	names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
+	order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
+	configuration variable.
+	The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`,
+	except that because `ls-remote` deals only with remotes, keys like
+	`committerdate` that require access to the objects themselves will
+	not work.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..f87b2657c 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -43,10 +44,13 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
 	const char *uploadpack = NULL;
 	const char **pattern = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&array, 0, sizeof(array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -108,9 +116,17 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+		ref_array_push(&array, ref);
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
 	return status;
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 45fc56216..6dbafba07 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1861,6 +1861,23 @@ static int ref_kind_from_refname(const char *refname)
 	return FILTER_REFS_OTHERS;
 }
 
+void ref_array_item_push(struct ref_array *array, struct ref_array_item *item)
+{
+	ALLOC_GROW(array->items, array->nr + 1, array->alloc);
+	array->items[array->nr++] = item;
+}
+
+void ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array, const struct ref *ref)
+{
+	struct ref_array_item *item;
+
+	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(item, refname, ref->name);
+	item->symref = xstrdup_or_null(ref->symref);
+	oidcpy(&item->objectname, &ref->old_oid);
+
+	ref_array_item_push(array, item);
+}
+
 static int filter_ref_kind(struct ref_filter *filter, const char *refname)
 {
 	if (filter->kind == FILTER_REFS_BRANCHES ||
@@ -1930,8 +1947,7 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid->hash, flag);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 
-	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
-	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
+	ref_array_item_push(ref_cbdata->array, ref);
 	ref->kind = kind;
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 0d98342b3..43e713a72 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -127,6 +127,8 @@ int parse_opt_merge_filter(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 char *get_head_description(void);
 /*  Set up translated strings in the output. */
 void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
+/*  Create a ref_array_item from a ref and push it to the ref_array */
+void ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array, const struct ref *ref);
 
 /*
  * Print a single ref, outside of any ref-filter. Note that the
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..66370cd88 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -178,6 +214,9 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

builtin/tag.c, builtin/verify-tag.c, ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/builtin/tag.c b/builtin/tag.c
index da186691e..42278f516 100644
--- a/builtin/tag.c
+++ b/builtin/tag.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ static int verify_tag(const char *name, const char *ref,
 		return -1;
 
 	if (format->format)
-		pretty_print_ref(name, oid->hash, format);
+		pretty_print_ref(name, oid, format);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/builtin/verify-tag.c b/builtin/verify-tag.c
index ad7b79fa5..6fa04b751 100644
--- a/builtin/verify-tag.c
+++ b/builtin/verify-tag.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ int cmd_verify_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 
 		if (format.format)
-			pretty_print_ref(name, oid.hash, &format);
+			pretty_print_ref(name, &oid, &format);
 	}
 	return had_error;
 }
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 45fc56216..ade97a848 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1826,12 +1826,12 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 
 /* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const unsigned char *objectname,
+						 const struct object_id *oid,
 						 int flag)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
-	hashcpy(ref->objectname.hash, objectname);
+	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
 	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
@@ -1927,7 +1927,7 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid->hash, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
@@ -2165,11 +2165,11 @@ void show_ref_array_item(struct ref_array_item *info,
 	putchar('\n');
 }
 
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, sha1, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 0d98342b3..68268f9eb 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
  * Print a single ref, outside of any ref-filter. Note that the
  * name must be a fully qualified refname.
  */
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index ade97a848..c1c3cc948 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1824,15 +1824,18 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-/* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
+/*
+ * Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the name and oid to it.
+ *
+ * Callers can then fill in other struct members at their leisure.
+ */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const struct object_id *oid,
-						 int flag)
+						 const struct object_id *oid)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
+
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
 	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
-	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
 }
@@ -1927,12 +1930,13 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
+	ref->flag = flag;
+	ref->kind = kind;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
 	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
-	ref->kind = kind;
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -2169,7 +2173,7 @@ void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);

ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index c1c3cc948..6e9328b27 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1840,6 +1840,18 @@ static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
 	return ref;
 }
 
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid)
+{
+	struct ref_array_item *ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+
+	ALLOC_GROW(array->items, array->nr + 1, array->alloc);
+	array->items[array->nr++] = ref;
+
+	return ref;
+}
+
 static int ref_kind_from_refname(const char *refname)
 {
 	unsigned int i;
@@ -1930,13 +1942,11 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+	ref = ref_array_push(ref_cbdata->array, refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 	ref->flag = flag;
 	ref->kind = kind;
 
-	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
-	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 68268f9eb..76cf87cb6 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -135,4 +135,12 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
 void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
+/*
+ * Push a single ref onto the array; this can be used to construct your own
+ * ref_array without using filter_refs().
+ */
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid);
+
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..fa4505fd7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,19 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
+	descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
+	multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
+	key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
+	names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
+	order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
+	configuration variable.
+	The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`,
+	except that because `ls-remote` deals only with remotes, keys like
+	`committerdate` that require access to the objects themselves will
+	not work.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..4375e8322 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -43,10 +44,13 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
 	const char *uploadpack = NULL;
 	const char **pattern = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&array, 0, sizeof(array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -104,13 +112,23 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (!dest && !quiet)
 		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
 	for ( ; ref; ref = ref->next) {
+		struct ref_array_item *item;
 		if (!check_ref_type(ref, flags))
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+		item = ref_array_push(&array, ref->name, &ref->old_oid);
+		item->symref = xstrdup_or_null(ref->symref);
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &array);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
 	return status;
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..66370cd88 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -178,6 +214,9 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
 	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

builtin/tag.c, builtin/verify-tag.c, ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/builtin/tag.c b/builtin/tag.c
index da186691e..42278f516 100644
--- a/builtin/tag.c
+++ b/builtin/tag.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ static int verify_tag(const char *name, const char *ref,
 		return -1;
 
 	if (format->format)
-		pretty_print_ref(name, oid->hash, format);
+		pretty_print_ref(name, oid, format);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/builtin/verify-tag.c b/builtin/verify-tag.c
index ad7b79fa5..6fa04b751 100644
--- a/builtin/verify-tag.c
+++ b/builtin/verify-tag.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ int cmd_verify_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 
 		if (format.format)
-			pretty_print_ref(name, oid.hash, &format);
+			pretty_print_ref(name, &oid, &format);
 	}
 	return had_error;
 }
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 45fc56216..ade97a848 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1826,12 +1826,12 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 
 /* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const unsigned char *objectname,
+						 const struct object_id *oid,
 						 int flag)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
-	hashcpy(ref->objectname.hash, objectname);
+	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
 	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
@@ -1927,7 +1927,7 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid->hash, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
@@ -2165,11 +2165,11 @@ void show_ref_array_item(struct ref_array_item *info,
 	putchar('\n');
 }
 
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, sha1, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 0d98342b3..68268f9eb 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
  * Print a single ref, outside of any ref-filter. Note that the
  * name must be a fully qualified refname.
  */
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index c1c3cc948..6e9328b27 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1840,6 +1840,18 @@ static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
 	return ref;
 }
 
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid)
+{
+	struct ref_array_item *ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+
+	ALLOC_GROW(array->items, array->nr + 1, array->alloc);
+	array->items[array->nr++] = ref;
+
+	return ref;
+}
+
 static int ref_kind_from_refname(const char *refname)
 {
 	unsigned int i;
@@ -1930,13 +1942,11 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+	ref = ref_array_push(ref_cbdata->array, refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 	ref->flag = flag;
 	ref->kind = kind;
 
-	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
-	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 68268f9eb..76cf87cb6 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -135,4 +135,12 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
 void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
+/*
+ * Push a single ref onto the array; this can be used to construct your own
+ * ref_array without using filter_refs().
+ */
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid);
+
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..80a09b518 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given. Prefix `-` to sort in descending order
+	of the value. Supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag names
+	are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort order can also
+	be affected by the "versionsort.suffix" configuration variable.
+	See linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1] for more sort options, but be aware
+	that because `ls-remote` deals only with remotes, any key like
+	`committerdate` that requires access to the object itself will
+	cause a failure.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
@@ -90,6 +100,10 @@ EXAMPLES
 	c5db5456ae3b0873fc659c19fafdde22313cc441	refs/tags/v0.99.2
 	7ceca275d047c90c0c7d5afb13ab97efdf51bd6e	refs/tags/v0.99.3
 
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
+
 GIT
 ---
 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..d3851074c 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -43,10 +44,13 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
 	const char *uploadpack = NULL;
 	const char **pattern = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array ref_array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&ref_array, 0, sizeof(ref_array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -90,6 +98,7 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (get_url) {
 		printf("%s\n", *remote->url);
+		UNLEAK(sorting);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -98,20 +107,35 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		transport_set_option(transport, TRANS_OPT_UPLOADPACK, uploadpack);
 
 	ref = transport_get_remote_refs(transport);
-	if (transport_disconnect(transport))
+	if (transport_disconnect(transport)) {
+		UNLEAK(sorting);
 		return 1;
+	}
 
 	if (!dest && !quiet)
 		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
 	for ( ; ref; ref = ref->next) {
+		struct ref_array_item *item;
 		if (!check_ref_type(ref, flags))
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+		item = ref_array_push(&ref_array, ref->name, &ref->old_oid);
+		item->symref = xstrdup_or_null(ref->symref);
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &ref_array);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < ref_array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = ref_array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
+
+	UNLEAK(sorting);
+	UNLEAK(ref_array);
 	return status;
 }
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..e8df4c7e0 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	'$(git rev-parse mark)'	refs/tags/mark
+	'$(git rev-parse mark1.1)'	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	'$(git rev-parse mark1.2)'	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	'$(git rev-parse mark1.10)'	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	'$(git rev-parse mark1.10)'	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	'$(git rev-parse mark1.2)'	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	'$(git rev-parse mark1.1)'	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	'$(git rev-parse mark)'	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	'$(git rev-parse mark1.2)'	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	'$(git rev-parse mark1.10)'	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	'$(git rev-parse mark1.1)'	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	'$(git rev-parse mark)'	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -170,14 +206,18 @@ test_expect_success 'overrides work between mixed transfer/upload-pack hideRefs'
 	grep refs/tags/magic actual
 '
 
+git fetch origin
 test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
 	ref: refs/heads/master	HEAD
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	HEAD
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/heads/master
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	'$(git rev-parse HEAD)'	HEAD
+	'$(git rev-parse refs/heads/master)'	refs/heads/master
+	'$(git rev-parse HEAD)'	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
+	'$(git rev-parse refs/remotes/origin/master)'	refs/remotes/origin/master
+	'$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark)'	refs/tags/mark
+	'$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark1.1)'	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	'$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark1.10)'	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	'$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark1.2)'	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index ade97a848..c1c3cc948 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1824,15 +1824,18 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-/* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
+/*
+ * Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the name and oid to it.
+ *
+ * Callers can then fill in other struct members at their leisure.
+ */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const struct object_id *oid,
-						 int flag)
+						 const struct object_id *oid)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
+
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
 	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
-	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
 }
@@ -1927,12 +1930,13 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
+	ref->flag = flag;
+	ref->kind = kind;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
 	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
-	ref->kind = kind;
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -2169,7 +2173,7 @@ void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);

builtin/tag.c, builtin/verify-tag.c, ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/builtin/tag.c b/builtin/tag.c
index da186691e..42278f516 100644
--- a/builtin/tag.c
+++ b/builtin/tag.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ static int verify_tag(const char *name, const char *ref,
 		return -1;
 
 	if (format->format)
-		pretty_print_ref(name, oid->hash, format);
+		pretty_print_ref(name, oid, format);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/builtin/verify-tag.c b/builtin/verify-tag.c
index ad7b79fa5..6fa04b751 100644
--- a/builtin/verify-tag.c
+++ b/builtin/verify-tag.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ int cmd_verify_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 
 		if (format.format)
-			pretty_print_ref(name, oid.hash, &format);
+			pretty_print_ref(name, &oid, &format);
 	}
 	return had_error;
 }
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 45fc56216..ade97a848 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1826,12 +1826,12 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 
 /* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const unsigned char *objectname,
+						 const struct object_id *oid,
 						 int flag)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
-	hashcpy(ref->objectname.hash, objectname);
+	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
 	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
@@ -1927,7 +1927,7 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid->hash, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
@@ -2165,11 +2165,11 @@ void show_ref_array_item(struct ref_array_item *info,
 	putchar('\n');
 }
 
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, sha1, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 0d98342b3..68268f9eb 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
  * Print a single ref, outside of any ref-filter. Note that the
  * name must be a fully qualified refname.
  */
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index ade97a848..c1c3cc948 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1824,15 +1824,18 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-/* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
+/*
+ * Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the name and oid to it.
+ *
+ * Callers can then fill in other struct members at their leisure.
+ */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const struct object_id *oid,
-						 int flag)
+						 const struct object_id *oid)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
+
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
 	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
-	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
 }
@@ -1927,12 +1930,13 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
+	ref->flag = flag;
+	ref->kind = kind;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
 	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
-	ref->kind = kind;
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -2169,7 +2173,7 @@ void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..0e26a67a1 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,17 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given. Prefix `-` to sort in descending order
+	of the value. Supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag names
+	are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort order can also
+	be affected by the "versionsort.suffix" configuration variable.
+	See linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1] for more sort options, but be aware
+	that because `ls-remote` deals only with remotes, keys like
+	`committerdate` that requires access to the objects themselves will
+	not work for refs whose objects have not yet been fetched from the
+	remote.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
@@ -90,6 +101,10 @@ EXAMPLES
 	c5db5456ae3b0873fc659c19fafdde22313cc441	refs/tags/v0.99.2
 	7ceca275d047c90c0c7d5afb13ab97efdf51bd6e	refs/tags/v0.99.3
 
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
+
 GIT
 ---
 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..b5ca67167 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -43,10 +44,13 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
 	const char *uploadpack = NULL;
 	const char **pattern = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array ref_array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&ref_array, 0, sizeof(ref_array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -104,14 +112,27 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (!dest && !quiet)
 		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
 	for ( ; ref; ref = ref->next) {
+		struct ref_array_item *item;
 		if (!check_ref_type(ref, flags))
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+		item = ref_array_push(&ref_array, ref->name, &ref->old_oid);
+		item->symref = xstrdup_or_null(ref->symref);
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &ref_array);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < ref_array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = ref_array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
+
+	UNLEAK(sorting);
+	UNLEAK(ref_array);
 	return status;
 }
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..83cd35c39 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	$(git rev-parse mark)	refs/tags/mark
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.1)	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.2)	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.10)	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.10)	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.2)	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.1)	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	$(git rev-parse mark)	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.2)	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.10)	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.1)	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	$(git rev-parse mark)	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -170,14 +206,18 @@ test_expect_success 'overrides work between mixed transfer/upload-pack hideRefs'
 	grep refs/tags/magic actual
 '
 
+git fetch origin
 test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
-	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
 	ref: refs/heads/master	HEAD
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	HEAD
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/heads/master
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD
+	$(git rev-parse refs/heads/master)	refs/heads/master
+	$(git rev-parse HEAD)	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
+	$(git rev-parse refs/remotes/origin/master)	refs/remotes/origin/master
+	$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark)	refs/tags/mark
+	$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark1.1)	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark1.10)	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark1.2)	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index b5ca67167d..d3851074c2 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (get_url) {
 		printf("%s\n", *remote->url);
+		UNLEAK(sorting);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -106,8 +107,10 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		transport_set_option(transport, TRANS_OPT_UPLOADPACK, uploadpack);
 
 	ref = transport_get_remote_refs(transport);
-	if (transport_disconnect(transport))
+	if (transport_disconnect(transport)) {
+		UNLEAK(sorting);
 		return 1;
+	}
 
 	if (!dest && !quiet)
 		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);

ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index c1c3cc948..6e9328b27 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1840,6 +1840,18 @@ static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
 	return ref;
 }
 
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid)
+{
+	struct ref_array_item *ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+
+	ALLOC_GROW(array->items, array->nr + 1, array->alloc);
+	array->items[array->nr++] = ref;
+
+	return ref;
+}
+
 static int ref_kind_from_refname(const char *refname)
 {
 	unsigned int i;
@@ -1930,13 +1942,11 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+	ref = ref_array_push(ref_cbdata->array, refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 	ref->flag = flag;
 	ref->kind = kind;
 
-	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
-	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 68268f9eb..76cf87cb6 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -135,4 +135,12 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
 void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
+/*
+ * Push a single ref onto the array; this can be used to construct your own
+ * ref_array without using filter_refs().
+ */
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid);
+
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

builtin/tag.c, builtin/verify-tag.c, ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/builtin/tag.c b/builtin/tag.c
index da186691e..42278f516 100644
--- a/builtin/tag.c
+++ b/builtin/tag.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ static int verify_tag(const char *name, const char *ref,
 		return -1;
 
 	if (format->format)
-		pretty_print_ref(name, oid->hash, format);
+		pretty_print_ref(name, oid, format);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/builtin/verify-tag.c b/builtin/verify-tag.c
index ad7b79fa5..6fa04b751 100644
--- a/builtin/verify-tag.c
+++ b/builtin/verify-tag.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ int cmd_verify_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 
 		if (format.format)
-			pretty_print_ref(name, oid.hash, &format);
+			pretty_print_ref(name, &oid, &format);
 	}
 	return had_error;
 }
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 45fc56216..ade97a848 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1826,12 +1826,12 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 
 /* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const unsigned char *objectname,
+						 const struct object_id *oid,
 						 int flag)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
-	hashcpy(ref->objectname.hash, objectname);
+	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
 	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
@@ -1927,7 +1927,7 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid->hash, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
@@ -2165,11 +2165,11 @@ void show_ref_array_item(struct ref_array_item *info,
 	putchar('\n');
 }
 
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, sha1, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 0d98342b3..68268f9eb 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
  * Print a single ref, outside of any ref-filter. Note that the
  * name must be a fully qualified refname.
  */
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index ade97a848..c1c3cc948 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1824,15 +1824,18 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-/* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
+/*
+ * Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the name and oid to it.
+ *
+ * Callers can then fill in other struct members at their leisure.
+ */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const struct object_id *oid,
-						 int flag)
+						 const struct object_id *oid)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
+
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
 	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
-	ref->flag = flag;
 
 	return ref;
 }
@@ -1927,12 +1930,13 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid, flag);
+	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
+	ref->flag = flag;
+	ref->kind = kind;
 
 	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
 	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
-	ref->kind = kind;
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -2169,7 +2173,7 @@ void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);

ref-filter.c, ref-filter.h

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index c1c3cc948..6e9328b27 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1840,6 +1840,18 @@ static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
 	return ref;
 }
 
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid)
+{
+	struct ref_array_item *ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+
+	ALLOC_GROW(array->items, array->nr + 1, array->alloc);
+	array->items[array->nr++] = ref;
+
+	return ref;
+}
+
 static int ref_kind_from_refname(const char *refname)
 {
 	unsigned int i;
@@ -1930,13 +1942,11 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+	ref = ref_array_push(ref_cbdata->array, refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
 	ref->flag = flag;
 	ref->kind = kind;
 
-	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
-	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 68268f9eb..76cf87cb6 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -135,4 +135,12 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
 void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
+/*
+ * Push a single ref onto the array; this can be used to construct your own
+ * ref_array without using filter_refs().
+ */
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid);
+
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */

Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt, builtin/ls-remote.c, t/t5512-ls-remote.sh

diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index 5f2628c8f..6ad1e34af 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags] [--refs] [--upload-pack=<exec>]
-	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url]
+	      [-q | --quiet] [--exit-code] [--get-url] [--sort=<key>]
 	      [--symref] [<repository> [<refs>...]]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ OPTIONS
 	upload-pack only shows the symref HEAD, so it will be the only
 	one shown by ls-remote.
 
+--sort=<key>::
+	Sort based on the key given. Prefix `-` to sort in descending order
+	of the value. Supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag names
+	are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort order can also
+	be affected by the "versionsort.suffix" configuration variable.
+	See linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1] for more sort options, but be aware
+	keys like `committerdate` that require access to the objects
+	themselves will not work for refs whose objects have not yet been
+	fetched from the remote, and will give a `missing object` error.
+
 <repository>::
 	The "remote" repository to query.  This parameter can be
 	either a URL or the name of a remote (see the GIT URLS and
@@ -90,6 +100,10 @@ EXAMPLES
 	c5db5456ae3b0873fc659c19fafdde22313cc441	refs/tags/v0.99.2
 	7ceca275d047c90c0c7d5afb13ab97efdf51bd6e	refs/tags/v0.99.3
 
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
+
 GIT
 ---
 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
diff --git a/builtin/ls-remote.c b/builtin/ls-remote.c
index 540d56429..b26c53670 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-remote.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-remote.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "transport.h"
+#include "ref-filter.h"
 #include "remote.h"
 
 static const char * const ls_remote_usage[] = {
@@ -43,10 +44,13 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int show_symref_target = 0;
 	const char *uploadpack = NULL;
 	const char **pattern = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
 	const struct ref *ref;
+	struct ref_array ref_array;
+	static struct ref_sorting *sorting = NULL, **sorting_tail = &sorting;
 
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("do not print remote URL")),
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT(0, "refs", &flags, N_("do not show peeled tags"), REF_NORMAL),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "get-url", &get_url,
 			 N_("take url.<base>.insteadOf into account")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0 , "sort", sorting_tail, N_("key"),
+			     N_("field name to sort on"), &parse_opt_ref_sorting),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "exit-code", &status,
 			      N_("exit with exit code 2 if no matching refs are found"),
 			      2, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	memset(&ref_array, 0, sizeof(ref_array));
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, ls_remote_usage,
 			     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
 	dest = argv[0];
@@ -90,6 +98,7 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (get_url) {
 		printf("%s\n", *remote->url);
+		UNLEAK(sorting);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -98,20 +107,33 @@ int cmd_ls_remote(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		transport_set_option(transport, TRANS_OPT_UPLOADPACK, uploadpack);
 
 	ref = transport_get_remote_refs(transport);
-	if (transport_disconnect(transport))
+	if (transport_disconnect(transport)) {
+		UNLEAK(sorting);
 		return 1;
+	}
 
 	if (!dest && !quiet)
 		fprintf(stderr, "From %s\n", *remote->url);
 	for ( ; ref; ref = ref->next) {
+		struct ref_array_item *item;
 		if (!check_ref_type(ref, flags))
 			continue;
 		if (!tail_match(pattern, ref->name))
 			continue;
+		item = ref_array_push(&ref_array, ref->name, &ref->old_oid);
+		item->symref = xstrdup_or_null(ref->symref);
+	}
+
+	if (sorting)
+		ref_array_sort(sorting, &ref_array);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < ref_array.nr; i++) {
+		const struct ref_array_item *ref = ref_array.items[i];
 		if (show_symref_target && ref->symref)
-			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->name);
-		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->old_oid), ref->name);
+			printf("ref: %s\t%s\n", ref->symref, ref->refname);
+		printf("%s\t%s\n", oid_to_hex(&ref->objectname), ref->refname);
 		status = 0; /* we found something */
 	}
+
 	return status;
 }
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 02106c922..83cd35c39 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
 	git tag mark &&
+	git tag mark1.1 &&
+	git tag mark1.2 &&
+	git tag mark1.10 &&
 	git show-ref --tags -d | sed -e "s/ /	/" >expected.tag &&
 	(
 		echo "$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD"
@@ -39,6 +42,39 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote self' '
 	test_cmp expected.all actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	$(git rev-parse mark)	refs/tags/mark
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.1)	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.2)	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.10)	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.10)	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.2)	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.1)	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	$(git rev-parse mark)	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-version:refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.2)	refs/tags/mark1.2
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.10)	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	$(git rev-parse mark1.1)	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	$(git rev-parse mark)	refs/tags/mark
+	EOF
+	git ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
@@ -131,7 +167,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Report no-match with --exit-code' '
 
 test_expect_success 'Report match with --exit-code' '
 	git ls-remote --exit-code other.git "refs/tags/*" >actual &&
-	git ls-remote . tags/mark >expect &&
+	git ls-remote . tags/mark* >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
@@ -170,14 +206,18 @@ test_expect_success 'overrides work between mixed transfer/upload-pack hideRefs'
 	grep refs/tags/magic actual
 '
 
+git fetch origin
 test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
-	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
 	ref: refs/heads/master	HEAD
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	HEAD
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/heads/master
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/remotes/origin/master
-	1bd44cb9d13204b0fe1958db0082f5028a16eb3a	refs/tags/mark
+	$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD
+	$(git rev-parse refs/heads/master)	refs/heads/master
+	$(git rev-parse HEAD)	refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
+	$(git rev-parse refs/remotes/origin/master)	refs/remotes/origin/master
+	$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark)	refs/tags/mark
+	$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark1.1)	refs/tags/mark1.1
+	$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark1.10)	refs/tags/mark1.10
+	$(git rev-parse refs/tags/mark1.2)	refs/tags/mark1.2
 	EOF
 	git ls-remote --symref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual

diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 83cd35c391..6a949484d0 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -206,8 +206,8 @@ test_expect_success 'overrides work between mixed transfer/upload-pack hideRefs'
 	grep refs/tags/magic actual
 '
 
-git fetch origin
 test_expect_success 'ls-remote --symref' '
+	git fetch origin &&
 	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
 	ref: refs/heads/master	HEAD
 	$(git rev-parse HEAD)	HEAD