diff --git a/src/Core_Sideloader/Core.Sideloader.ManifestVersionComparer.cs b/src/Core_Sideloader/Core.Sideloader.ManifestVersionComparer.cs
index 6ef0017c..897b362e 100644
--- a/src/Core_Sideloader/Core.Sideloader.ManifestVersionComparer.cs
+++ b/src/Core_Sideloader/Core.Sideloader.ManifestVersionComparer.cs
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@ public int Compare(string x, string y)
 
         public static int CompareVersions(string firstVer, string secondVer)
         {
-            firstVer = firstVer?.Trim().TrimStart('v', 'V', 'r') ?? "";
-            secondVer = secondVer?.Trim().TrimStart('v', 'V', 'r') ?? "";
+            firstVer = firstVer?.Trim().TrimStart('v', 'V', 'r', 'R', ' ');
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(firstVer)) firstVer = "0";
+            secondVer = secondVer?.Trim().TrimStart('v', 'V', 'r', 'R', ' ');
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(secondVer)) secondVer = "0";
 
             if (firstVer == secondVer) return 0;
 
@@ -22,8 +24,8 @@ public static int CompareVersions(string firstVer, string secondVer)
             var limit = Math.Max(version.First.Count, version.Second.Count);
             for (var i = 0; i < limit; i++)
             {
-                var first = version.First.ElementAtOrDefault(i) ?? string.Empty;
-                var second = version.Second.ElementAtOrDefault(i) ?? string.Empty;
+                var first = version.First.ElementAtOrDefault(i) ?? 0;
+                var second = version.Second.ElementAtOrDefault(i) ?? 0;
                 try
                 {
                     var result = first.CompareTo(second);
@@ -32,16 +34,22 @@ public static int CompareVersions(string firstVer, string secondVer)
                 }
                 catch (ArgumentException)
                 {
-                    if (first is string s1 && second is string s2)
-                    {
-                        // Handle invalid characters in strings by comparing them byte by byte
-                        var result = string.CompareOrdinal(s1, s2);
-                        if (result != 0)
-                            return result;
-                    }
+                    var s1 = first.ToString();
+                    var s2 = second.ToString();
+                    
+                    if (s1 == "0" && s2 != "0")
+                        return -1;
+                    
+                    if (s2 == "0" && s1 != "0")
+                        return 1;
+                    
+                    // Handle invalid characters in strings by comparing them byte by byte
+                    var result = string.CompareOrdinal(s1, s2);
+                    if (result != 0)
+                        return result;
                 }
             }
-            return version.First.Count.CompareTo(version.Second.Count);
+            return 0;
         }
 
         private static ICollection<IComparable> Tokenize(string version)
@@ -49,6 +57,12 @@ private static ICollection<IComparable> Tokenize(string version)
             var results = new List<IComparable>(2);
             foreach (var part in version.Trim().Split('.', ' ', '-', ',', '_'))
             {
+                if (part.Length == 0)
+                {
+                    results.Add(0);
+                    continue;
+                }
+
                 // Handle mixed digit + letter parts by splitting them (1.0a -> 1 0 a)
                 var isDigit = char.IsDigit(part[0]);
                 var current = part[0].ToString();
diff --git a/src/Core_Sideloader/Core.Sideloader.cs b/src/Core_Sideloader/Core.Sideloader.cs
index ac8c6d7d..ec73feb1 100644
--- a/src/Core_Sideloader/Core.Sideloader.cs
+++ b/src/Core_Sideloader/Core.Sideloader.cs
@@ -261,13 +261,23 @@ void AddZipmodToLoad(ZipmodInfo zipmodInfo)
                 // Handle multiple versions/copies of a single zipmod
                 if (modGroup.Count > 1)
                 {
-                    // Order by version if available, else use modified dates (less reliable)
-                    // If versions match, prefer mods inside folders or with more descriptive names so modpacks are preferred
-                    var orderedModsQuery = modGroup.All(x => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(x.Manifest.Version))
-                        ? modGroup.OrderByDescending(x => x.Manifest.Version, new ManifestVersionComparer()).ThenByDescending(x => x.FileName.Length)
-                        : modGroup.OrderByDescending(x => x.LastWriteTime);
+                    List<ZipmodInfo> orderedMods;
+                    try
+                    {
+                        // Order by version if available, else use modified dates (less reliable)
+                        // If versions match, prefer mods inside folders or with more descriptive names so modpacks are preferred
+                        var orderedModsQuery = modGroup.All(x => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(x.Manifest.Version))
+                            ? modGroup.OrderByDescending(x => x.Manifest.Version, new ManifestVersionComparer()).ThenByDescending(x => x.FileName.Length)
+                            : modGroup.OrderByDescending(x => x.LastWriteTime);
+
+                        orderedMods = orderedModsQuery.ToList();
+                    }
+                    catch (Exception e)
+                    {
+                        Logger.LogError($"Failed to sort versions of [{modGroup[0].Manifest.GUID}]: [{string.Join("] , [", modGroup.Select(x => x.Manifest.Version).ToArray())}] with error: {e}");
+                        orderedMods = modGroup;
+                    }
 
-                    var orderedMods = orderedModsQuery.ToList();
                     zipmod = orderedMods[0];
 
                     var modList = string.Join(", ", orderedMods.Skip(1).Select(x => '"' + x.RelativeFileName + '"').ToArray());