diff --git a/lua/oil/columns.lua b/lua/oil/columns.lua
index 7e217afa..97d5e3c9 100644
--- a/lua/oil/columns.lua
+++ b/lua/oil/columns.lua
@@ -279,6 +279,10 @@ M.register("type", {
   end,
 })
 
+local function pad_number(int)
+  return string.format("%012d", int)
+end
+
 M.register("name", {
   render = function(entry, conf)
     error("Do not use the name column. It is for sorting only")
@@ -289,7 +293,11 @@ M.register("name", {
   end,
 
   get_sort_value = function(entry)
-    return entry[FIELD_NAME]
+    if config.view_options.natural_order then
+      return entry[FIELD_NAME]:gsub("%d+", pad_number)
+    else
+      return entry[FIELD_NAME]
+    end
   end,
 })
 
diff --git a/lua/oil/config.lua b/lua/oil/config.lua
index 8753903f..b3683873 100644
--- a/lua/oil/config.lua
+++ b/lua/oil/config.lua
@@ -90,6 +90,9 @@ local default_config = {
     is_always_hidden = function(name, bufnr)
       return false
     end,
+    -- Sort file names in a more intuitive order for humans. Is less performant,
+    -- so you may want to set to false if you work with large directories.
+    natural_order = true,
     sort = {
       -- sort order can be "asc" or "desc"
       -- see :help oil-columns to see which columns are sortable
diff --git a/lua/oil/view.lua b/lua/oil/view.lua
index 72d5e947..a5032eed 100644
--- a/lua/oil/view.lua
+++ b/lua/oil/view.lua
@@ -515,37 +515,18 @@ M.initialize = function(bufnr)
   keymap_util.set_keymaps(config.keymaps, bufnr)
 end
 
---- Compare two strings while also treating multi-digit integers atomically
----@param a_val string
----@param b_val string
----@param order string
----@return boolean
-local function natural_sort_compare(a_val, b_val, order)
-  ---This method pads integers with zeroes so that they are always 12 digits long.
-  ---As a result, comparing strings that have integers of different sizes work
-  ---as if we were comparing integers (instead of strings of integers)
-  ---
-  ---Note: if the file name has integers of more than 12 digits, this padding does not work
-  ---@param int integer
-  local function pad_to_compare(int)
-    return string.format("%012d", int)
-  end
-
-  local a_val_padded = string.gsub(a_val, "%d+", pad_to_compare)
-  local b_val_padded = string.gsub(b_val, "%d+", pad_to_compare)
-
-  if order == "desc" then
-    return a_val_padded > b_val_padded
-  else
-    return a_val_padded < b_val_padded
-  end
-end
-
 ---@param adapter oil.Adapter
 ---@return fun(a: oil.InternalEntry, b: oil.InternalEntry): boolean
 local function get_sort_function(adapter)
   local idx_funs = {}
-  for _, sort_pair in ipairs(config.view_options.sort) do
+  local sort_config = config.view_options.sort
+
+  -- If empty, default to type + name sorting
+  if vim.tbl_isempty(sort_config) then
+    sort_config = { { "type", "asc" }, { "name", "asc" } }
+  end
+
+  for _, sort_pair in ipairs(sort_config) do
     local col_name, order = unpack(sort_pair)
     if order ~= "asc" and order ~= "desc" then
       vim.notify_once(
@@ -573,7 +554,11 @@ local function get_sort_function(adapter)
       local a_val = get_sort_value(a)
       local b_val = get_sort_value(b)
       if a_val ~= b_val then
-        return natural_sort_compare(a_val, b_val, order)
+        if order == "desc" then
+          return a_val > b_val
+        else
+          return a_val < b_val
+        end
       end
     end
     return a[FIELD_NAME] < b[FIELD_NAME]