diff --git a/include/vlc_strings.h b/include/vlc_strings.h
index 1bbb82fa74..9828fbd728 100644
--- a/include/vlc_strings.h
+++ b/include/vlc_strings.h
@@ -148,6 +148,8 @@ static inline char *str_format( input_thread_t *input, const char *fmt )
     return s2;
 }
 
+VLC_API int vlc_filenamecmp(const char *, const char *);
+
 void filename_sanitize(char *);
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/input/access.c b/src/input/access.c
index e32ec81abd..6852ade7d9 100644
--- a/src/input/access.c
+++ b/src/input/access.c
@@ -29,14 +29,12 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
-#ifndef HAVE_STRCOLL
-# define strcoll strcasecmp
-#endif
 
 #include <vlc_common.h>
 #include <vlc_url.h>
 #include <vlc_modules.h>
 #include <vlc_interrupt.h>
+#include <vlc_strings.h>
 
 #include <libvlc.h>
 #include "stream.h"
@@ -343,37 +341,7 @@ static int compar_filename(const void *a, const void *b)
     if (i_ret != 0)
         return i_ret;
 
-    size_t i;
-    char ca, cb;
-
-    /* Attempt to guess if the sorting algorithm should be alphabetic
-     * (i.e. collation) or numeric:
-     * - If the first mismatching characters are not both digits,
-     *   then collation is the only option.
-     * - If one of the first mismatching characters is 0 and the other is also
-     *   a digit, the comparands are probably left-padded numerical values.
-     *   It does not matter which algorithm is used: the zero will be smaller
-     *   than non-zero either way.
-     * - Otherwise, the comparands are numerical values, and might not be
-     *   aligned (i.e. not same order of magnitude). If so, collation would
-     *   fail. So numerical comparison is performed. */
-    for (i = 0; (ca = ia->psz_name[i]) == (cb = ib->psz_name[i]); i++)
-        if (ca == '\0')
-            return 0; /* strings are exactly identical */
-
-    if ((unsigned)(ca - '0') > 9 || (unsigned)(cb - '0') > 9)
-        return strcoll(ia->psz_name, ib->psz_name);
-
-    unsigned long long ua = strtoull(ia->psz_name + i, NULL, 10);
-    unsigned long long ub = strtoull(ib->psz_name + i, NULL, 10);
-
-    /* The number may be identical in two cases:
-     * - leading zero (e.g. "012" and "12")
-     * - overflow on both sides (#ULLONG_MAX) */
-    if (ua == ub)
-        return strcoll(ia->psz_name, ib->psz_name);
-
-    return (ua > ub) ? +1 : -1;
+    return vlc_filenamecmp(ia->psz_name, ib->psz_name);
 }
 
 static void fsdir_sort(input_item_node_t *p_node)
diff --git a/src/libvlccore.sym b/src/libvlccore.sym
index d8649afe1b..8d9bb53d3c 100644
--- a/src/libvlccore.sym
+++ b/src/libvlccore.sym
@@ -563,6 +563,7 @@ vlc_CPU
 vlc_error
 vlc_event_attach
 vlc_event_detach
+vlc_filenamecmp
 vlc_fourcc_GetCodec
 vlc_fourcc_GetCodecAudio
 vlc_fourcc_GetCodecFromString
diff --git a/src/text/strings.c b/src/text/strings.c
index ec68de3fc2..eae4461006 100644
--- a/src/text/strings.c
+++ b/src/text/strings.c
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@
 #include <time.h>
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <math.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#ifndef HAVE_STRCOLL
+# define strcoll strcasecmp
+#endif
 
 /* Needed by vlc_strfinput */
 #include <vlc_input.h>
@@ -817,6 +821,41 @@ char *vlc_strfinput(input_thread_t *input, const char *s)
     return stream->ptr;
 }
 
+int vlc_filenamecmp(const char *a, const char *b)
+{
+    size_t i;
+    char ca, cb;
+
+    /* Attempt to guess if the sorting algorithm should be alphabetic
+     * (i.e. collation) or numeric:
+     * - If the first mismatching characters are not both digits,
+     *   then collation is the only option.
+     * - If one of the first mismatching characters is 0 and the other is also
+     *   a digit, the comparands are probably left-padded numerical values.
+     *   It does not matter which algorithm is used: the zero will be smaller
+     *   than non-zero either way.
+     * - Otherwise, the comparands are numerical values, and might not be
+     *   aligned (i.e. not same order of magnitude). If so, collation would
+     *   fail. So numerical comparison is performed. */
+    for (i = 0; (ca = a[i]) == (cb = b[i]); i++)
+        if (ca == '\0')
+            return 0; /* strings are exactly identical */
+
+    if ((unsigned)(ca - '0') > 9 || (unsigned)(cb - '0') > 9)
+        return strcoll(a, b);
+
+    unsigned long long ua = strtoull(a + i, NULL, 10);
+    unsigned long long ub = strtoull(b + i, NULL, 10);
+
+    /* The number may be identical in two cases:
+     * - leading zero (e.g. "012" and "12")
+     * - overflow on both sides (#ULLONG_MAX) */
+    if (ua == ub)
+        return strcoll(a, b);
+
+    return (ua > ub) ? +1 : -1;
+}
+
 /**
  * Sanitize a file name.
  *