diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotationAwareOrderComparator.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotationAwareOrderComparator.java
index a24f2cde3a..bf7232e10a 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotationAwareOrderComparator.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotationAwareOrderComparator.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2012 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2013 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
 
 package org.springframework.core.annotation;
 
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+
 import org.springframework.core.OrderComparator;
 import org.springframework.core.Ordered;
 
@@ -37,7 +41,7 @@ public class AnnotationAwareOrderComparator extends OrderComparator {
 	/**
 	 * Shared default instance of AnnotationAwareOrderComparator.
 	 */
-	public static AnnotationAwareOrderComparator INSTANCE = new AnnotationAwareOrderComparator();
+	public static final AnnotationAwareOrderComparator INSTANCE = new AnnotationAwareOrderComparator();
 
 
 	@Override
@@ -54,4 +58,31 @@ public class AnnotationAwareOrderComparator extends OrderComparator {
 		return Ordered.LOWEST_PRECEDENCE;
 	}
 
+
+	/**
+	 * Sort the given List with a default AnnotationAwareOrderComparator.
+	 * <p>Optimized to skip sorting for lists with size 0 or 1,
+	 * in order to avoid unnecessary array extraction.
+	 * @param list the List to sort
+	 * @see java.util.Collections#sort(java.util.List, java.util.Comparator)
+	 */
+	public static void sort(List<?> list) {
+		if (list.size() > 1) {
+			Collections.sort(list, INSTANCE);
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Sort the given array with a default AnnotationAwareOrderComparator.
+	 * <p>Optimized to skip sorting for lists with size 0 or 1,
+	 * in order to avoid unnecessary array extraction.
+	 * @param array the array to sort
+	 * @see java.util.Arrays#sort(Object[], java.util.Comparator)
+	 */
+	public static void sort(Object[] array) {
+		if (array.length > 1) {
+			Arrays.sort(array, INSTANCE);
+		}
+	}
+
 }