diff --git a/demux/demux_playlist.c b/demux/demux_playlist.c
index 6b6b2be144..a99d8be7c8 100644
--- a/demux/demux_playlist.c
+++ b/demux/demux_playlist.c
@@ -336,10 +336,27 @@ static bool same_st(struct stat *st1, struct stat *st2)
     return st1->st_dev == st2->st_dev && st1->st_ino == st2->st_ino;
 }
 
+struct pl_dir_entry {
+    char *path;
+    char *name;
+    struct stat st;
+    bool is_dir;
+};
+
+static int cmp_dir_entry(const void *a, const void *b)
+{
+    struct pl_dir_entry *a_entry = (struct pl_dir_entry*) a;
+    struct pl_dir_entry *b_entry = (struct pl_dir_entry*) b;
+    if (a_entry->is_dir == b_entry->is_dir) {
+        return mp_natural_sort_cmp(a_entry->name, b_entry->name);
+    } else {
+        return a_entry->is_dir ? 1 : -1;
+    }
+}
+
 // Return true if this was a readable directory.
 static bool scan_dir(struct pl_parser *p, char *path,
-                     struct stat *dir_stack, int num_dir_stack,
-                     char ***files, int *num_files)
+                     struct stat *dir_stack, int num_dir_stack)
 {
     if (strlen(path) >= 8192 || num_dir_stack == MAX_DIR_STACK)
         return false; // things like mount bind loops
@@ -350,7 +367,11 @@ static bool scan_dir(struct pl_parser *p, char *path,
         return false;
     }
 
+    struct pl_dir_entry *dir_entries = NULL;
+    int num_dir_entries = 0;
+    int path_len = strlen(path);
     int dir_mode = p->opts->dir_mode;
+
     struct dirent *ep;
     while ((ep = readdir(dp))) {
         if (ep->d_name[0] == '.')
@@ -362,7 +383,7 @@ static bool scan_dir(struct pl_parser *p, char *path,
         char *file = mp_path_join(p, path, ep->d_name);
 
         struct stat st;
-        if (dir_mode != DIR_LAZY && stat(file, &st) == 0 && S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
+        if (stat(file, &st) == 0 && S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
             if (dir_mode != DIR_IGNORE) {
                 for (int n = 0; n < num_dir_stack; n++) {
                     if (same_st(&dir_stack[n], &st)) {
@@ -371,23 +392,33 @@ static bool scan_dir(struct pl_parser *p, char *path,
                     }
                 }
 
-                dir_stack[num_dir_stack] = st;
-                scan_dir(p, file, dir_stack, num_dir_stack + 1, files, num_files);
+                struct pl_dir_entry d = {file, &file[path_len], st, true};
+                MP_TARRAY_APPEND(p, dir_entries, num_dir_entries, d);
             }
         } else {
-            MP_TARRAY_APPEND(p, *files, *num_files, file);
+            struct pl_dir_entry f = {file, &file[path_len], .is_dir = false};
+            MP_TARRAY_APPEND(p, dir_entries, num_dir_entries, f);
         }
 
         skip: ;
     }
-
     closedir(dp);
-    return true;
-}
 
-static int cmp_filename(const void *a, const void *b)
-{
-    return mp_natural_sort_cmp(*(char **)a, *(char **)b);
+    if (dir_entries)
+        qsort(dir_entries, num_dir_entries, sizeof(dir_entries[0]), cmp_dir_entry);
+
+    for (int n = 0; n < num_dir_entries; n++) {
+        if (dir_mode == DIR_RECURSIVE && dir_entries[n].is_dir) {
+            dir_stack[num_dir_stack] = dir_entries[n].st;
+            char *file = dir_entries[n].path;
+            scan_dir(p, file, dir_stack, num_dir_stack + 1);
+        }
+        else {
+            playlist_add_file(p->pl, dir_entries[n].path);
+        }
+    }
+
+    return true;
 }
 
 static int parse_dir(struct pl_parser *p)
@@ -401,21 +432,13 @@ static int parse_dir(struct pl_parser *p)
     if (!path)
         return -1;
 
-    char **files = NULL;
-    int num_files = 0;
     struct stat dir_stack[MAX_DIR_STACK];
 
-    scan_dir(p, path, dir_stack, 0, &files, &num_files);
-
-    if (files)
-        qsort(files, num_files, sizeof(files[0]), cmp_filename);
-
-    for (int n = 0; n < num_files; n++)
-        playlist_add_file(p->pl, files[n]);
+    scan_dir(p, path, dir_stack, 0);
 
     p->add_base = false;
 
-    return num_files > 0 ? 0 : -1;
+    return p->pl->num_entries > 0 ? 0 : -1;
 }
 
 #define MIME_TYPES(...) \