diff --git a/src/gui/FileListWidget.cxx b/src/gui/FileListWidget.cxx
index 0f823c2ca..533e5f054 100644
--- a/src/gui/FileListWidget.cxx
+++ b/src/gui/FileListWidget.cxx
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ void FileListWidget::setLocation(const FilesystemNode& node, string select)
 
   // Add '[..]' to indicate previous folder
   if(_node.hasParent())
-    _gameList.appendGame("[..]", _node.getParent().getPath(), "", true);
+    _gameList.appendGame(" [..]", _node.getParent().getPath(), "", true);
 
   // Now add the directory entries
   for(const auto& file: content)
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ void FileListWidget::setLocation(const FilesystemNode& node, string select)
     string name = file.getName();
     bool isDir = file.isDirectory();
     if(isDir)
-      name = "[" + name + "]";
+      name = " [" + name + "]";
     else if(!BSPF::endsWithIgnoreCase(name, _extension))
       continue;
 
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ void FileListWidget::handleCommand(CommandSender* sender, int cmd, int data, int
       if(_gameList.isDir(data))
       {
         cmd = ItemChanged;
-        if(_gameList.name(data) == "[..]")
+        if(_gameList.name(data) == " [..]")
           selectParent();
         else
           setLocation(FilesystemNode(_gameList.path(data)));
diff --git a/src/gui/GameList.cxx b/src/gui/GameList.cxx
index dc97971af..8447a273a 100644
--- a/src/gui/GameList.cxx
+++ b/src/gui/GameList.cxx
@@ -31,10 +31,6 @@ void GameList::sortByName()
 
   auto cmp = [](const Entry& a, const Entry& b)
   {
-    // directories always first
-    if(a._isdir != b._isdir)
-      return a._isdir;
-
     auto it1 = a._name.cbegin(), it2 = b._name.cbegin();
 
     // Account for ending ']' character in directory entries
diff --git a/src/gui/LauncherDialog.cxx b/src/gui/LauncherDialog.cxx
index 41725c56a..b5bd8776f 100644
--- a/src/gui/LauncherDialog.cxx
+++ b/src/gui/LauncherDialog.cxx
@@ -294,14 +294,14 @@ void LauncherDialog::loadDirListing()
 
   // Add '[..]' to indicate previous folder
   if(myCurrentNode.hasParent())
-    myGameList->appendGame("[..]", "", "", true);
+    myGameList->appendGame(" [..]", "", "", true);
 
   // Now add the directory entries
   bool domatch = myPattern && myPattern->getText() != "";
   for(const auto& f: files)
   {
     bool isDir = f.isDirectory();
-    const string& name = isDir ? ("[" + f.getName() + "]") : f.getName();
+    const string& name = isDir ? (" [" + f.getName() + "]") : f.getName();
 
     // Honour the filtering settings
     // Showing only certain ROM extensions is determined by the extension
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ void LauncherDialog::handleCommand(CommandSender* sender, int cmd,
         if(romnode.isDirectory())
         {
           string dirname = "";
-          if(myGameList->name(item) == "[..]")
+          if(myGameList->name(item) == " [..]")
           {
             myCurrentNode = myCurrentNode.getParent();
             if(!myNodeNames.empty())