diff --git a/src/commands/versions.ts b/src/commands/versions.ts
index 97c2ac4..8c67a79 100644
--- a/src/commands/versions.ts
+++ b/src/commands/versions.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 import { defineCommand } from "citty";
 import consola from "consola";
+import type { Version } from "../core/types.ts";
+
 import { sharedArgs, resolvePURL, withErrorHandling } from "./shared.ts";
+export function selectRecentVersions(versions: Version[], limit: number): Version[] {
+  return versions
+    .toSorted((a, b) => {
+      if (a.publishedAt === null) return b.publishedAt === null ? 0 : 1;
+      if (b.publishedAt === null) return -1;
+      return b.publishedAt.getTime() - a.publishedAt.getTime();
+    })
+    .slice(0, limit);
+}
 
 export default defineCommand({
   meta: {
@@ -26,14 +37,13 @@ export default defineCommand({
       const [reg, name] = resolvePURL(args.purl, !args["no-cache"]);
       const versions = await reg.fetchVersions(name);
       const limit = Number.parseInt(args.limit, 10) || 20;
+      const shown = selectRecentVersions(versions, limit);
 
       if (args.json) {
-        console.log(JSON.stringify(versions.slice(0, limit), null, 2));
+        console.log(JSON.stringify(shown, null, 2));
         return;
       }
 
-      const shown = versions.slice(0, limit);
-
       consola.log("");
       consola.log(
         `  \x1b[1m${name}\x1b[0m — ${versions.length} version${versions.length === 1 ? "" : "s"}`,
diff --git a/test/unit/versions-command.test.ts b/test/unit/versions-command.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b55c4d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/versions-command.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import type { Version } from "../../src/core/types.ts";
+import { selectRecentVersions } from "../../src/commands/versions.ts";
+
+function createVersion(number: string, publishedAt: string | null): Version {
+  return {
+    number,
+    publishedAt: publishedAt ? new Date(publishedAt) : null,
+    licenses: "",
+    integrity: "",
+    status: "",
+    metadata: {},
+  };
+}
+
+describe("selectRecentVersions", () => {
+  it("limits versions after sorting by recency and keeps undated versions last", () => {
+    const versions = [
+      createVersion("1.0.0", "2022-01-01T00:00:00Z"),
+      createVersion("unknown-a", null),
+      createVersion("3.0.0", "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"),
+      createVersion("2.0.0", "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z"),
+      createVersion("unknown-b", null),
+    ];
+
+    expect(selectRecentVersions(versions, 3).map(({ number }) => number)).toEqual([
+      "3.0.0",
+      "2.0.0",
+      "1.0.0",
+    ]);
+    expect(selectRecentVersions(versions, 5).map(({ number }) => number)).toEqual([
+      "3.0.0",
+      "2.0.0",
+      "1.0.0",
+      "unknown-a",
+      "unknown-b",
+    ]);
+    expect(versions.map(({ number }) => number)).toEqual([
+      "1.0.0",
+      "unknown-a",
+      "3.0.0",
+      "2.0.0",
+      "unknown-b",
+    ]);
+  });
+});