diff --git a/pkg/distro/id.go b/pkg/distro/id.go
index 1cced4b9e2..914b859d56 100644
--- a/pkg/distro/id.go
+++ b/pkg/distro/id.go
@@ -16,22 +16,20 @@ type ID struct {
 	MinorVersion int
 }
 
-func (id ID) String() string {
+func (id ID) versionString() string {
 	if id.MinorVersion == -1 {
-		return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", id.Name, id.MajorVersion)
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%d", id.MajorVersion)
+	} else {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%d.%d", id.MajorVersion, id.MinorVersion)
 	}
+}
 
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d.%d", id.Name, id.MajorVersion, id.MinorVersion)
+func (id ID) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", id.Name, id.versionString())
 }
 
 func (id ID) Version() (*version.Version, error) {
-	var verStr string
-	if id.MinorVersion == -1 {
-		verStr = fmt.Sprintf("%d", id.MajorVersion)
-	} else {
-		verStr = fmt.Sprintf("%d.%d", id.MajorVersion, id.MinorVersion)
-	}
-	return version.NewVersion(verStr)
+	return version.NewVersion(id.versionString())
 }
 
 type ParseError struct {
diff --git a/pkg/distrosort/sort.go b/pkg/distrosort/sort.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c1a20d3c56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/distrosort/sort.go
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package distrosort
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"sort"
+
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distroidparser"
+)
+
+// Names sorts the given list of distro names by name, version
+// taking version semantics into account (i.e. sorting 8.1 lower then
+// 8.10).
+//
+// Invalid version numbers will create errors but the sorting continue
+// and invalid numbers are sorted lower than anything else (so the
+// result is still usable in a {G,T}UI).
+//
+// Note that full semantic versioning (see semver.org) is not
+// supported today but it would be once the underlying distroid parser
+// supports better spliting.
+func Names(distros []string) error {
+	var errs []error
+
+	parser := distroidparser.NewDefaultParser()
+	sort.Slice(distros, func(i, j int) bool {
+		id1, err := parser.Parse(distros[i])
+		if err != nil {
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+			return true
+		}
+		id2, err := parser.Parse(distros[j])
+		if err != nil {
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+			return true
+		}
+		if id1.Name != id2.Name {
+			return id1.Name < id2.Name
+		}
+		ver1, err := id1.Version()
+		if err != nil {
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+			return true
+		}
+		ver2, err := id2.Version()
+		if err != nil {
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+			return true
+		}
+
+		return ver1.LessThan(ver2)
+	})
+	return errors.Join(errs...)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/distrosort/sort_test.go b/pkg/distrosort/sort_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5cade9dd62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/distrosort/sort_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+package distrosort_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distrosort"
+)
+
+func TestSortNames(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		inp    []string
+		sorted []string
+	}{
+		{
+			// distro names are sorted by first
+			[]string{"foo-2", "bar-1", "foo-1"},
+			[]string{"bar-1", "foo-1", "foo-2"},
+		}, {
+			// multiple "-" are okay
+			[]string{"foo-bar-2", "bar-foo-1", "foo-bar-1"},
+			[]string{"bar-foo-1", "foo-bar-1", "foo-bar-2"},
+		}, {
+			// 1.4 is smaller than 1.10, sort.Strings will get this
+			// wrong
+			[]string{"foo-1.10", "foo-1.4"},
+			[]string{"foo-1.4", "foo-1.10"},
+		},
+	} {
+		err := distrosort.Names(tc.inp)
+		assert.NoError(t, err, tc.inp)
+		assert.Equal(t, tc.sorted, tc.inp)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSortNamesInvalidVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		inp         []string
+		expectedErr string
+	}{
+		{
+			[]string{"foo-1.x", "foo-2"},
+			"error when parsing distro name (foo-1.x): parsing minor version failed, inner error:\nstrconv.Atoi: parsing \"x\": invalid syntax",
+		}, {
+			// missing "-" is not supported
+			[]string{"foo", "bar-1"},
+			`error when parsing distro name (foo): A dash is expected to separate distro name and version`,
+		}, {
+			// foo-1.4-beta is not supported
+			[]string{"foo-1.4", "foo-1.4-beta", "foo-1.0"},
+			"error when parsing distro name (foo-1.4-beta): parsing major version failed, inner error:\nstrconv.Atoi: parsing \"beta\": invalid syntax",
+		},
+	} {
+		err := distrosort.Names(tc.inp)
+		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, tc.expectedErr, tc.inp)
+	}
+}