diff --git a/hosts/common/programs/neovim/vimrc b/hosts/common/programs/neovim/vimrc
index 515833c23..0dc0e30ca 100644
--- a/hosts/common/programs/neovim/vimrc
+++ b/hosts/common/programs/neovim/vimrc
@@ -39,3 +39,15 @@ set listchars=tab:▷\·,trail:·,extends:◣,precedes:◢,nbsp:○
 " this allows one to resize the terminal and have the manpage be re-rendered.
 " see: <https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/11436>
 let g:man_hardwrap=0
+
+" netrw builtin filebrowser
+" 'i' = case *I*nsensitive sorting
+" it's (likely) the `how` field from <https://neovim.io/doc/user/builtin.html#sort()>
+let g:netrw_sort_options="i"
+" reset the default "sort sequence", which otherwise sorts vaguely by _suffix_
+" instead of file name. this is a list of regular expressions, where names
+" matching earlier entries are grouped higher than names matching later entries.
+" - '[\/]$' matches directories (and possibly symlinks whose content ends in a /).
+"   use it to place directories above non-directory entries
+let g:netrw_sort_sequence="[\/]$,*"
+" let g:netrw_sort_sequence="*"