a001 | | a001 | | a1 | | a01b | | a01b | | a10 | | a10 | +------+ This may not be what we were hoping for in a 'natural' sort. A workaround is to sort by both NATURAL_SORT_KEY and regular sort. SELECT a FROM t3 ORDER BY NATURAL_SORT_KEY(a), a; +------+ | a | +------+ | a001 | | a001 | | a01 | | a01 | | a1 | | a1 | | a01b | | a01b | | a10 | | a10 | +------+ URL: https://mariadb.com/kb/en/natural_sort_key/https://mariadb.com/kb/en/natural_sort_key/