diff --git a/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash b/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
index e3d88b06721b39..59964a8056e190 100644
--- a/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
+++ b/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
@@ -80,12 +80,37 @@
 #     When set, uses for-each-ref '--ignore-case' to find refs that match
 #     case insensitively, even on systems with case sensitive file systems
 #     (e.g., completing tag name "FOO" on "git checkout f<TAB>").
+#
+#   GIT_COMPLETION_REFS_SORT_BY_FIELDNAME
+#
+#     Fieldname string to use for --sort option of for-each-ref. If empty or
+#     not defined it defaults to "refname" which is the same default git uses
+#     when no --sort option is provided. Some example values:
+#       '-committerdate' to descending sort by committer date
+#       '-version:refname' to descending sort by refname interpreted as version
+#       More info and examples: https://git-scm.com/docs/git-for-each-ref#_field_names
 
 case "$COMP_WORDBREAKS" in
 *:*) : great ;;
 *)   COMP_WORDBREAKS="$COMP_WORDBREAKS:"
 esac
 
+# Reads and validates GIT_COMPLETION_REFS_SORT_BY_FIELDNAME configuration var,
+# returning the content of it when it's valid, or if not valid or is empty or
+# not defined, then it returns the documented default i.e. 'refname'.
+__git_get_sort_by_fieldname ()
+{
+	if [ -n "${GIT_COMPLETION_REFS_SORT_BY_FIELDNAME-}" ]; then
+		# Validate by using a regex pattern which only allows a set
+		# of characters that may appear in a --sort expression
+        if [[ "$GIT_COMPLETION_REFS_SORT_BY_FIELDNAME" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9%:=*(),_\ -]+$ ]]; then
+            echo "$GIT_COMPLETION_REFS_SORT_BY_FIELDNAME"
+            return
+        fi
+	fi
+	echo 'refname'
+}
+
 # Discovers the path to the git repository taking any '--git-dir=<path>' and
 # '-C <path>' options into account and stores it in the $__git_repo_path
 # variable.
@@ -751,7 +776,9 @@ __git_heads ()
 {
 	local pfx="${1-}" cur_="${2-}" sfx="${3-}"
 
-	__git for-each-ref --format="${pfx//\%/%%}%(refname:strip=2)$sfx" \
+	local sortby=$(__git_get_sort_by_fieldname)
+
+	__git for-each-ref --sort="$sortby" --format="${pfx//\%/%%}%(refname:strip=2)$sfx" \
 			${GIT_COMPLETION_IGNORE_CASE+--ignore-case} \
 			"refs/heads/$cur_*" "refs/heads/$cur_*/**"
 }
@@ -765,7 +792,9 @@ __git_remote_heads ()
 {
 	local pfx="${1-}" cur_="${2-}" sfx="${3-}"
 
-	__git for-each-ref --format="${pfx//\%/%%}%(refname:strip=2)$sfx" \
+	local sortby=$(__git_get_sort_by_fieldname)
+
+	__git for-each-ref --sort="$sortby" --format="${pfx//\%/%%}%(refname:strip=2)$sfx" \
 			${GIT_COMPLETION_IGNORE_CASE+--ignore-case} \
 			"refs/remotes/$cur_*" "refs/remotes/$cur_*/**"
 }
@@ -776,7 +805,9 @@ __git_tags ()
 {
 	local pfx="${1-}" cur_="${2-}" sfx="${3-}"
 
-	__git for-each-ref --format="${pfx//\%/%%}%(refname:strip=2)$sfx" \
+	local sortby=$(__git_get_sort_by_fieldname)
+
+	__git for-each-ref --sort="$sortby" --format="${pfx//\%/%%}%(refname:strip=2)$sfx" \
 			${GIT_COMPLETION_IGNORE_CASE+--ignore-case} \
 			"refs/tags/$cur_*" "refs/tags/$cur_*/**"
 }
@@ -818,7 +849,9 @@ __git_dwim_remote_heads ()
 		}
 	}
 	'
-	__git for-each-ref --format='%(refname)' refs/remotes/ |
+	local sortby=$(__git_get_sort_by_fieldname)
+
+	__git for-each-ref --sort="$sortby" --format='%(refname)' refs/remotes/ |
 		PFX="$pfx" SFX="$sfx" CUR_="$cur_" \
 			IGNORE_CASE=${GIT_COMPLETION_IGNORE_CASE+1} \
 			REMOTES="$(__git_remotes | sort -r)" awk "$awk_script" |
@@ -847,6 +880,7 @@ __git_refs ()
 	local match="${4-}"
 	local umatch="${4-}"
 	local fer_pfx="${pfx//\%/%%}" # "escape" for-each-ref format specifiers
+	local sortby=$(__git_get_sort_by_fieldname)
 
 	__git_find_repo_path
 	dir="$__git_repo_path"
@@ -905,7 +939,8 @@ __git_refs ()
 				"refs/remotes/$match*" "refs/remotes/$match*/**")
 			;;
 		esac
-		__git_dir="$dir" __git for-each-ref --format="$fer_pfx%($format)$sfx" \
+		__git_dir="$dir" __git for-each-ref --sort="$sortby" \
+			--format="$fer_pfx%($format)$sfx" \
 			${GIT_COMPLETION_IGNORE_CASE+--ignore-case} \
 			"${refs[@]}"
 		if [ -n "$track" ]; then
@@ -929,7 +964,8 @@ __git_refs ()
 			$match*|$umatch*)	echo "${pfx}HEAD$sfx" ;;
 			esac
 			local strip="$(__git_count_path_components "refs/remotes/$remote")"
-			__git for-each-ref --format="$fer_pfx%(refname:strip=$strip)$sfx" \
+			__git for-each-ref --sort="$sortby" \
+				--format="$fer_pfx%(refname:strip=$strip)$sfx" \
 				${GIT_COMPLETION_IGNORE_CASE+--ignore-case} \
 				"refs/remotes/$remote/$match*" \
 				"refs/remotes/$remote/$match*/**"
@@ -2861,7 +2897,8 @@ __git_complete_config_variable_value ()
 	remote.*.push)
 		local remote="${varname#remote.}"
 		remote="${remote%.push}"
-		__gitcomp_nl "$(__git for-each-ref \
+		local sortby=$(__git_get_sort_by_fieldname)
+		__gitcomp_nl "$(__git for-each-ref --sort="$sortby" \
 			--format='%(refname):%(refname)' refs/heads)" "" "$cur_"
 		return
 		;;
@@ -3983,8 +4020,9 @@ ___git_complete ()
 {
 	local wrapper="__git_wrap${2}"
 	eval "$wrapper () { __git_func_wrap $2 ; }"
-	complete -o bashdefault -o default -o nospace -F $wrapper $1 2>/dev/null \
-		|| complete -o default -o nospace -F $wrapper $1
+	complete -o bashdefault -o default -o nospace -o nosort \
+		-F $wrapper $1 2>/dev/null \
+		|| complete -o default -o nospace -o nosort -F $wrapper $1
 }
 
 # Setup the completion for git commands