diff --git a/src/helpers.cpp b/src/helpers.cpp
index 4cbaa9b1..fffba71b 100644
--- a/src/helpers.cpp
+++ b/src/helpers.cpp
@@ -225,32 +225,6 @@ void ParseArgv(int argc, char **argv)
 		exit(0);
 }
 
-bool CaseInsensitiveSorting::operator()(std::string a, std::string b)
-{
-	ToLower(a);
-	ToLower(b);
-	if (Config.ignore_leading_the)
-	{
-		RemoveTheWord(a);
-		RemoveTheWord(b);
-	}
-	return a < b;
-}
-
-bool CaseInsensitiveSorting::operator()(Song *sa, Song *sb)
-{
-	std::string a = sa->GetName();
-	std::string b = sb->GetName();
-	ToLower(a);
-	ToLower(b);
-	if (Config.ignore_leading_the)
-	{
-		RemoveTheWord(a);
-		RemoveTheWord(b);
-	}
-	return a < b;
-}
-
 bool CaseInsensitiveSorting::operator()(const Item &a, const Item &b)
 {
 	if (a.type == b.type)
@@ -258,9 +232,9 @@ bool CaseInsensitiveSorting::operator()(const Item &a, const Item &b)
 		switch (a.type)
 		{
 			case itDirectory:
-				return operator()(ExtractTopDirectory(a.name), ExtractTopDirectory(b.name));
+				return cmp(ExtractTopDirectory(a.name), ExtractTopDirectory(b.name)) < 0;
 			case itPlaylist:
-				return operator()(a.name, b.name);
+				return cmp(a.name, b.name) < 0;
 			case itSong:
 				return operator()(a.song, b.song);
 			default: // there's no other type, just silence compiler.
@@ -354,13 +328,6 @@ std::string GetLineValue(std::string &line, char a, char b, bool once)
 	return result;
 }
 
-void RemoveTheWord(std::string &s)
-{
-	size_t the_pos = s.find("the ");
-	if (the_pos == 0 && the_pos != std::string::npos)
-		s = s.substr(4);
-}
-
 std::string ExtractTopDirectory(const std::string &s)
 {
 	size_t slash = s.rfind("/");
diff --git a/src/helpers.h b/src/helpers.h
index 0f8a0c21..f559dc65 100644
--- a/src/helpers.h
+++ b/src/helpers.h
@@ -30,21 +30,57 @@
 bool ConnectToMPD();
 void ParseArgv(int, char **);
 
+class CaseInsensitiveStringComparison
+{
+	bool hasTheWord(const std::string &s)
+	{
+		return  (s.length() > 3)
+		&&	(s[0] == 't' || s[0] == 'T')
+		&&	(s[1] == 'h' || s[1] == 'H')
+		&&	(s[2] == 'e' || s[2] == 'E')
+		&&	(s[3] == ' ');
+	}
+	
+	public:
+		int operator()(const std::string &a, const std::string &b)
+		{
+			const char *i = a.c_str();
+			const char *j = b.c_str();
+			if (Config.ignore_leading_the)
+			{
+				if (hasTheWord(a))
+					i += 4;
+				if (hasTheWord(b))
+					j += 4;
+			}
+			int dist;
+			while (!(dist = tolower(*i)-tolower(*j)) && *j)
+				++i, ++j;
+			return dist;
+		}
+};
+
 class CaseInsensitiveSorting
 {
+	CaseInsensitiveStringComparison cmp;
+	
 	public:
-		bool operator()(std::string, std::string);
-		bool operator()(MPD::Song *, MPD::Song *);
-		bool operator()(const MPD::Item &, const MPD::Item &);
+		bool operator()(const std::string &a, const std::string &b)
+		{
+			return cmp(a, b) < 0;
+		}
+		
+		bool operator()(MPD::Song *a, MPD::Song *b)
+		{
+			return cmp(a->GetName(), b->GetName()) < 0;
+		}
 		
 		template <typename A, typename B> bool operator()(const std::pair<A, B> &a, const std::pair<A, B> &b)
 		{
-			std::string aa = a.first;
-			std::string bb = b.first;
-			ToLower(aa);
-			ToLower(bb);
-			return aa < bb;
+			return cmp(a.first, b.first) < 0;
 		}
+		
+		bool operator()(const MPD::Item &, const MPD::Item &);
 };
 
 template <typename A, typename B> std::string StringPairToString(const std::pair<A, B> &pair, void *)
@@ -115,12 +151,10 @@ std::string FindSharedDir(Menu<MPD::Song> *);
 std::string FindSharedDir(const MPD::SongList &);
 #endif // HAVE_TAGLIB_H
 std::string FindSharedDir(const std::string &, const std::string &);
+std::string ExtractTopDirectory(const std::string &);
 
 std::string GetLineValue(std::string &, char = '"', char = '"', bool = 0);
 
-void RemoveTheWord(std::string &s);
-std::string ExtractTopDirectory(const std::string &);
-
 #ifdef _UTF8
 std::basic_string<my_char_t> Scroller(const std::string &str, size_t &pos, size_t width);
 #endif // _UTF8
diff --git a/src/playlist.cpp b/src/playlist.cpp
index 22b2e9da..684c9796 100644
--- a/src/playlist.cpp
+++ b/src/playlist.cpp
@@ -323,20 +323,10 @@ void Playlist::EnableHighlighting()
 
 bool Playlist::Sorting(MPD::Song *a, MPD::Song *b)
 {
+	CaseInsensitiveStringComparison cmp;
 	for (size_t i = 0; i < SortOptions; ++i)
-	{
-		std::string sa = (a->*(*SortDialog)[i].second)();
-		std::string sb = (b->*(*SortDialog)[i].second)();
-		ToLower(sa);
-		ToLower(sb);
-		if (Config.ignore_leading_the)
-		{
-			RemoveTheWord(sa);
-			RemoveTheWord(sb);
-		}
-		if (sa != sb)
-			return sa < sb;
-	}
+		if (int ret = cmp((a->*(*SortDialog)[i].second)(), (b->*(*SortDialog)[i].second)()))
+			return ret < 0;
 	return a->GetPosition() < b->GetPosition();
 }