diff --git a/t/helper/test-string-list.c b/t/helper/test-string-list.c
index 4a68967bd1..c502fa16d3 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-string-list.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-string-list.c
@@ -97,6 +97,31 @@ int cmd_main(int argc, const char **argv)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	if (argc == 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "sort")) {
+		struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
+		struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+		struct string_list_item *item;
+
+		strbuf_read(&sb, 0, 0);
+
+		/*
+		 * Split by newline, but don't create a string_list item
+		 * for the empty string after the last separator.
+		 */
+		if (sb.buf[sb.len - 1] == '\n')
+			strbuf_setlen(&sb, sb.len - 1);
+		string_list_split_in_place(&list, sb.buf, '\n', -1);
+
+		string_list_sort(&list);
+
+		for_each_string_list_item(item, &list)
+			puts(item->string);
+
+		string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+		strbuf_release(&sb);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	fprintf(stderr, "%s: unknown function name: %s\n", argv[0],
 		argv[1] ? argv[1] : "(there was none)");
 	return 1;
diff --git a/t/perf/p0071-sort.sh b/t/perf/p0071-sort.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..7c9a35a646
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/perf/p0071-sort.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='Basic sort performance tests'
+. ./perf-lib.sh
+
+test_perf_default_repo
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+	git ls-files --stage "*.[ch]" "*.sh" |
+	cut -f2 -d" " |
+	git cat-file --batch >unsorted
+'
+
+test_perf 'sort(1)' '
+	sort <unsorted >expect
+'
+
+test_perf 'string_list_sort()' '
+	test-string-list sort <unsorted >actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'string_list_sort() sorts like sort(1)' '
+	test_cmp_bin expect actual
+'
+
+test_done