diff --git a/doc/NERD_tree.txt b/doc/NERD_tree.txt
index bf03896..f1abb88 100644
--- a/doc/NERD_tree.txt
+++ b/doc/NERD_tree.txt
@@ -620,6 +620,10 @@ NERD tree. These options should be set in your vimrc.
 |'NERDTreeCaseSensitiveSort'|   Tells the NERD tree whether to be case
                                 sensitive or not when sorting nodes.
 
+|'NERDTreeSortHiddenFirst'|     Tells the NERD tree whether to take the dot
+                                at the beginning of the hidden file names
+                                into account when sorting nodes.
+
 |'NERDTreeChDirMode'|           Tells the NERD tree if/when it should change
                                 vim's current working directory.
 
diff --git a/lib/nerdtree/path.vim b/lib/nerdtree/path.vim
index 58bb013..72a230b 100644
--- a/lib/nerdtree/path.vim
+++ b/lib/nerdtree/path.vim
@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ function! s:Path.compareTo(path)
     elseif thisSS > thatSS
         return 1
     else
+        if !g:NERDTreeSortHiddenFirst
+            let thisPath = substitute(thisPath, '^[._]', '', '')
+            let thatPath = substitute(thatPath, '^[._]', '', '')
+        endif
         "if the sort sequences are the same then compare the paths
         "alphabetically
         let pathCompare = g:NERDTreeCaseSensitiveSort ? thisPath <# thatPath : thisPath <? thatPath
diff --git a/plugin/NERD_tree.vim b/plugin/NERD_tree.vim
index 5bee03a..59cac88 100644
--- a/plugin/NERD_tree.vim
+++ b/plugin/NERD_tree.vim
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ call s:initVariable("g:NERDChristmasTree", 1)
 call s:initVariable("g:NERDTreeAutoCenter", 1)
 call s:initVariable("g:NERDTreeAutoCenterThreshold", 3)
 call s:initVariable("g:NERDTreeCaseSensitiveSort", 0)
+call s:initVariable("g:NERDTreeSortHiddenFirst", 1)
 call s:initVariable("g:NERDTreeChDirMode", 0)
 call s:initVariable("g:NERDTreeMinimalUI", 0)
 if !exists("g:NERDTreeIgnore")