diff --git a/runtime/doc/builtin.txt b/runtime/doc/builtin.txt
index a695547..da2bf32 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/builtin.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/builtin.txt
@@ -8641,8 +8641,9 @@
 
 		When {how} is given and it is 'n' then all items will be
 		sorted numerical (Implementation detail: this uses the
-		strtod() function to parse numbers, Strings, Lists, Dicts and
-		Funcrefs will be considered as being 0).
+		strtod() function to parse numbers.  Strings, Lists, Dicts and
+		Funcrefs will be considered as being 0).  Note that this won't
+		sort a list of strings with numbers!
 
 		When {how} is given and it is 'N' then all items will be
 		sorted numerical. This is like 'n' but a string containing
diff --git a/src/list.c b/src/list.c
index ae9e3e9..991be8b 100644
--- a/src/list.c
+++ b/src/list.c
@@ -1910,8 +1910,8 @@
 
     if (sortinfo->item_compare_numbers)
     {
-	varnumber_T	v1 = tv_get_number(tv1);
-	varnumber_T	v2 = tv_get_number(tv2);
+	varnumber_T	v1 = tv_to_number(tv1);
+	varnumber_T	v2 = tv_to_number(tv2);
 
 	return v1 == v2 ? 0 : v1 > v2 ? 1 : -1;
     }
@@ -2831,7 +2831,7 @@
     }
     else if (argvars[0].v_type == VAR_DICT && argvars[1].v_type == VAR_DICT)
     {
-	// Check that extend() does not change the type of the list if it was
+	// Check that extend() does not change the type of the dict if it was
 	// declared.
 	if (!is_new && in_vim9script() && argvars[0].vval.v_dict != NULL)
 	    type = argvars[0].vval.v_dict->dv_type;
diff --git a/src/proto/typval.pro b/src/proto/typval.pro
index f3184d0..8cecdb8 100644
--- a/src/proto/typval.pro
+++ b/src/proto/typval.pro
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 void clear_tv(typval_T *varp);
 void init_tv(typval_T *varp);
 varnumber_T tv_get_number(typval_T *varp);
+varnumber_T tv_to_number(typval_T *varp);
 varnumber_T tv_get_number_chk(typval_T *varp, int *denote);
 varnumber_T tv_get_bool(typval_T *varp);
 varnumber_T tv_get_bool_chk(typval_T *varp, int *denote);
diff --git a/src/testdir/test_sort.vim b/src/testdir/test_sort.vim
index a2731a8..14a70cf 100644
--- a/src/testdir/test_sort.vim
+++ b/src/testdir/test_sort.vim
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@
 func Test_sort_numbers()
   call assert_equal([3, 13, 28], sort([13, 28, 3], 'N'))
   call assert_equal(['3', '13', '28'], sort(['13', '28', '3'], 'N'))
+  vim9cmd call assert_equal(['3', '13', '28'], sort(['13', '28', '3'], 'N'))
   call assert_equal([3997, 4996], sort([4996, 3997], 'Compare1'))
 endfunc
 
diff --git a/src/typval.c b/src/typval.c
index 10932e5..a760f35 100644
--- a/src/typval.c
+++ b/src/typval.c
@@ -188,7 +188,11 @@
 }
 
     static varnumber_T
-tv_get_bool_or_number_chk(typval_T *varp, int *denote, int want_bool)
+tv_get_bool_or_number_chk(
+	typval_T    *varp,
+	int	    *denote,
+	int	    want_bool,
+	int	    vim9_string_error) // in Vim9 using a string is an error
 {
     varnumber_T	n = 0L;
 
@@ -210,7 +214,7 @@
 	    emsg(_(e_using_funcref_as_number));
 	    break;
 	case VAR_STRING:
-	    if (in_vim9script())
+	    if (vim9_string_error && in_vim9script())
 	    {
 		emsg_using_string_as(varp, !want_bool);
 		break;
@@ -287,10 +291,22 @@
     return tv_get_number_chk(varp, &error);	// return 0L on error
 }
 
+/*
+ * Like tv_get_numbe() but in Vim9 script do convert a number in a string to a
+ * number without giving an error.
+ */
+    varnumber_T
+tv_to_number(typval_T *varp)
+{
+    int		error = FALSE;
+
+    return tv_get_bool_or_number_chk(varp, &error, FALSE, FALSE);
+}
+
     varnumber_T
 tv_get_number_chk(typval_T *varp, int *denote)
 {
-    return tv_get_bool_or_number_chk(varp, denote, FALSE);
+    return tv_get_bool_or_number_chk(varp, denote, FALSE, TRUE);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -300,7 +316,7 @@
     varnumber_T
 tv_get_bool(typval_T *varp)
 {
-    return tv_get_bool_or_number_chk(varp, NULL, TRUE);
+    return tv_get_bool_or_number_chk(varp, NULL, TRUE, TRUE);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -310,7 +326,7 @@
     varnumber_T
 tv_get_bool_chk(typval_T *varp, int *denote)
 {
-    return tv_get_bool_or_number_chk(varp, denote, TRUE);
+    return tv_get_bool_or_number_chk(varp, denote, TRUE, TRUE);
 }
 
     static float_T
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index 82d89c1..24c6fa3 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -696,6 +696,8 @@
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
 /**/
+    1396,
+/**/
     1395,
 /**/
     1394,