diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/index.test.ts.snap b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/index.test.ts.snap
index b5fda7366b70..d25aa4d54928 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/index.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/index.test.ts.snap
@@ -781,6 +781,7 @@ Object {
     "dirName": ".",
     "type": "autogenerated",
   },
+  "numberPrefixParser": [Function],
   "version": Object {
     "contentPath": "docs",
     "versionName": "current",
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/numberPrefix.test.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/numberPrefix.test.ts
index af116cb1dbf4..6ca7081a345b 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/numberPrefix.test.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/numberPrefix.test.ts
@@ -6,53 +6,114 @@
  */
 
 import {
-  extractNumberPrefix,
+  DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
+  DisabledNumberPrefixParser,
   stripNumberPrefix,
   stripPathNumberPrefixes,
 } from '../numberPrefix';
 
-const BadNumberPrefixPatterns = [
+const IgnoredNumberPrefixPatterns = [
+  // Patterns without number prefix
+  'MyDoc',
   'a1-My Doc',
   'My Doc-000',
+  'My Doc - 1',
+  'My Doc - 02',
+  'Hey - 03 - My Doc',
   '00abc01-My Doc',
   'My 001- Doc',
   'My -001 Doc',
+  // ignore common date-like patterns: https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/issues/4640
+  '2021-01-31 - Doc',
+  '31-01-2021 - Doc',
+  '2021_01_31 - Doc',
+  '31_01_2021 - Doc',
+  '2021.01.31 - Doc',
+  '31.01.2021 - Doc',
+  '2021-01 - Doc',
+  '2021_01 - Doc',
+  '2021.01 - Doc',
+  '01-2021 - Doc',
+  '01_2021 - Doc',
+  '01.2021 - Doc',
+  // date patterns without suffix
+  '2021-01-31',
+  '2021-01',
+  '21-01-31',
+  '21-01',
+  '2021_01_31',
+  '2021_01',
+  '21_01_31',
+  '21_01',
+  '01_31',
+  '01',
+  '2021',
+  '01',
+  // ignore common versioning patterns: https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/issues/4653
+  '8.0',
+  '8.0.0',
+  '14.2.16',
+  '18.2',
+  '8.0 - Doc',
+  '8.0.0 - Doc',
+  '8_0',
+  '8_0_0',
+  '14_2_16',
+  '18_2',
+  '8.0 - Doc',
+  '8.0.0 - Doc',
 ];
 
 describe('stripNumberPrefix', () => {
+  function stripNumberPrefixDefault(str: string) {
+    return stripNumberPrefix(str, DefaultNumberPrefixParser);
+  }
+
   test('should strip number prefix if present', () => {
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('1-My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('01-My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001-My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001 - My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001      -    My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('999      -        My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('1-My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('01-My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001-My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001 - My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001      -    My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('999      -        My Doc')).toEqual(
+      'My Doc',
+    );
     //
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('1---My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('01---My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001---My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001 --- My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001      ---    My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('999      ---        My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('1---My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('01---My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001---My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001 --- My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001      ---    My Doc')).toEqual(
+      'My Doc',
+    );
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('999      ---        My Doc')).toEqual(
+      'My Doc',
+    );
     //
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('1___My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('01___My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001___My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001 ___ My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001      ___    My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('999      ___        My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('1___My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('01___My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001___My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001 ___ My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001      ___    My Doc')).toEqual(
+      'My Doc',
+    );
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('999      ___        My Doc')).toEqual(
+      'My Doc',
+    );
     //
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('1.My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('01.My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001.My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001 . My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('001      .    My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
-    expect(stripNumberPrefix('999      .       My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('1.My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('01.My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001.My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001 . My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('001      .    My Doc')).toEqual('My Doc');
+    expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault('999      .       My Doc')).toEqual(
+      'My Doc',
+    );
   });
 
   test('should not strip number prefix if pattern does not match', () => {
-    BadNumberPrefixPatterns.forEach((badPattern) => {
-      expect(stripNumberPrefix(badPattern)).toEqual(badPattern);
+    IgnoredNumberPrefixPatterns.forEach((badPattern) => {
+      expect(stripNumberPrefixDefault(badPattern)).toEqual(badPattern);
     });
   });
 });
@@ -62,51 +123,74 @@ describe('stripPathNumberPrefix', () => {
     expect(
       stripPathNumberPrefixes(
         '0-MyRootFolder0/1 - MySubFolder1/2.  MyDeepFolder2/3 _MyDoc3',
+        DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
       ),
     ).toEqual('MyRootFolder0/MySubFolder1/MyDeepFolder2/MyDoc3');
   });
+
+  test('should strip number prefixes in paths with custom parser', () => {
+    function stripPathNumberPrefixCustom(str: string) {
+      return {
+        filename: str.substring(1, str.length),
+        numberPrefix: 0,
+      };
+    }
+
+    expect(
+      stripPathNumberPrefixes('aaaa/bbbb/cccc', stripPathNumberPrefixCustom),
+    ).toEqual('aaa/bbb/ccc');
+  });
+
+  test('should strip number prefixes in paths with disabled parser', () => {
+    expect(
+      stripPathNumberPrefixes(
+        '0-MyRootFolder0/1 - MySubFolder1/2.  MyDeepFolder2/3 _MyDoc3',
+        DisabledNumberPrefixParser,
+      ),
+    ).toEqual('0-MyRootFolder0/1 - MySubFolder1/2.  MyDeepFolder2/3 _MyDoc3');
+  });
 });
 
-describe('extractNumberPrefix', () => {
+describe('DefaultNumberPrefixParser', () => {
   test('should extract number prefix if present', () => {
-    expect(extractNumberPrefix('0-My Doc')).toEqual({
+    expect(DefaultNumberPrefixParser('0-My Doc')).toEqual({
       filename: 'My Doc',
       numberPrefix: 0,
     });
-    expect(extractNumberPrefix('1-My Doc')).toEqual({
+    expect(DefaultNumberPrefixParser('1-My Doc')).toEqual({
       filename: 'My Doc',
       numberPrefix: 1,
     });
-    expect(extractNumberPrefix('01-My Doc')).toEqual({
+    expect(DefaultNumberPrefixParser('01-My Doc')).toEqual({
       filename: 'My Doc',
       numberPrefix: 1,
     });
-    expect(extractNumberPrefix('001-My Doc')).toEqual({
+    expect(DefaultNumberPrefixParser('001-My Doc')).toEqual({
       filename: 'My Doc',
       numberPrefix: 1,
     });
-    expect(extractNumberPrefix('001 - My Doc')).toEqual({
+    expect(DefaultNumberPrefixParser('001 - My Doc')).toEqual({
       filename: 'My Doc',
       numberPrefix: 1,
     });
-    expect(extractNumberPrefix('001      -    My Doc')).toEqual({
+    expect(DefaultNumberPrefixParser('001      -    My Doc')).toEqual({
       filename: 'My Doc',
       numberPrefix: 1,
     });
-    expect(extractNumberPrefix('999      -        My Doc')).toEqual({
+    expect(DefaultNumberPrefixParser('999      -        My Doc')).toEqual({
       filename: 'My Doc',
       numberPrefix: 999,
     });
 
-    expect(extractNumberPrefix('0046036 - My Doc')).toEqual({
+    expect(DefaultNumberPrefixParser('0046036 - My Doc')).toEqual({
       filename: 'My Doc',
       numberPrefix: 46036,
     });
   });
 
   test('should not extract number prefix if pattern does not match', () => {
-    BadNumberPrefixPatterns.forEach((badPattern) => {
-      expect(extractNumberPrefix(badPattern)).toEqual({
+    IgnoredNumberPrefixPatterns.forEach((badPattern) => {
+      expect(DefaultNumberPrefixParser(badPattern)).toEqual({
         filename: badPattern,
         numberPrefix: undefined,
       });
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/options.test.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/options.test.ts
index 1d46b3d84072..5ddd5f72d3b5 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/options.test.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/options.test.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 import {OptionsSchema, DEFAULT_OPTIONS} from '../options';
 import {normalizePluginOptions} from '@docusaurus/utils-validation';
 import {DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator} from '../sidebarItemsGenerator';
+import {
+  DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
+  DisabledNumberPrefixParser,
+} from '../numberPrefix';
 
 // the type of remark/rehype plugins is function
 const markdownPluginsFunctionStub = () => {};
@@ -28,6 +32,7 @@ describe('normalizeDocsPluginOptions', () => {
       include: ['**/*.{md,mdx}'], // Extensions to include.
       sidebarPath: 'my-sidebar', // Path to sidebar configuration for showing a list of markdown pages.
       sidebarItemsGenerator: DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator,
+      numberPrefixParser: DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
       docLayoutComponent: '@theme/DocPage',
       docItemComponent: '@theme/DocItem',
       remarkPlugins: [markdownPluginsObjectStub],
@@ -84,6 +89,46 @@ describe('normalizeDocsPluginOptions', () => {
     expect(error).toBe(undefined);
   });
 
+  test('should accept numberPrefixParser function', () => {
+    function customNumberPrefixParser() {}
+    expect(
+      normalizePluginOptions(OptionsSchema, {
+        ...DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
+        numberPrefixParser: customNumberPrefixParser,
+      }),
+    ).toEqual({
+      ...DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
+      id: 'default',
+      numberPrefixParser: customNumberPrefixParser,
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('should accept numberPrefixParser false', () => {
+    expect(
+      normalizePluginOptions(OptionsSchema, {
+        ...DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
+        numberPrefixParser: false,
+      }),
+    ).toEqual({
+      ...DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
+      id: 'default',
+      numberPrefixParser: DisabledNumberPrefixParser,
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('should accept numberPrefixParser true', () => {
+    expect(
+      normalizePluginOptions(OptionsSchema, {
+        ...DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
+        numberPrefixParser: true,
+      }),
+    ).toEqual({
+      ...DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
+      id: 'default',
+      numberPrefixParser: DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
+    });
+  });
+
   test('should reject admonitions true', async () => {
     const admonitionsTrue = {
       ...DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/sidebarItemsGenerator.test.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/sidebarItemsGenerator.test.ts
index 81f07f4e81ce..69b26ba2ce6e 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/sidebarItemsGenerator.test.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/__tests__/sidebarItemsGenerator.test.ts
@@ -12,12 +12,14 @@ import {
 import {DefaultCategoryCollapsedValue} from '../sidebars';
 import {Sidebar, SidebarItemsGenerator} from '../types';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import {DefaultNumberPrefixParser} from '../numberPrefix';
 
 describe('DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator', () => {
   function testDefaultSidebarItemsGenerator(
     options: Partial<Parameters<SidebarItemsGenerator>[0]>,
   ) {
     return DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator({
+      numberPrefixParser: DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
       item: {
         type: 'autogenerated',
         dirName: '.',
@@ -60,6 +62,7 @@ describe('DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator', () => {
 
   test('generates simple flat sidebar', async () => {
     const sidebarSlice = await DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator({
+      numberPrefixParser: DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
       item: {
         type: 'autogenerated',
         dirName: '.',
@@ -127,6 +130,7 @@ describe('DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator', () => {
     });
 
     const sidebarSlice = await DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator({
+      numberPrefixParser: DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
       item: {
         type: 'autogenerated',
         dirName: '.',
@@ -234,6 +238,7 @@ describe('DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator', () => {
     });
 
     const sidebarSlice = await DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator({
+      numberPrefixParser: DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
       item: {
         type: 'autogenerated',
         dirName: 'subfolder/subsubfolder',
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/docFrontMatter.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/docFrontMatter.ts
index 6ae0fe77b110..4fc9282ddaa8 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/docFrontMatter.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/docFrontMatter.ts
@@ -16,9 +16,13 @@ type DocFrontMatter = {
   sidebar_label?: string;
   sidebar_position?: number;
   custom_edit_url?: string;
-  strip_number_prefixes?: boolean;
+  parse_number_prefixes?: boolean;
 };
 
+// NOTE: we don't add any default value on purpose here
+// We don't want default values to magically appear in doc metadatas and props
+// While the user did not provide those values explicitly
+// We use default values in code instead
 const DocFrontMatterSchema = Joi.object<DocFrontMatter>({
   id: Joi.string(),
   title: Joi.string(),
@@ -27,11 +31,14 @@ const DocFrontMatterSchema = Joi.object<DocFrontMatter>({
   sidebar_label: Joi.string(),
   sidebar_position: Joi.number(),
   custom_edit_url: Joi.string().allow(null),
-  strip_number_prefixes: Joi.boolean(),
-}).unknown();
+  parse_number_prefixes: Joi.boolean(),
+});
 
-export function assertDocFrontMatter(
+export function validateDocFrontMatter(
   frontMatter: Record<string, unknown>,
-): asserts frontMatter is DocFrontMatter {
-  Joi.attempt(frontMatter, DocFrontMatterSchema);
+): DocFrontMatter {
+  return Joi.attempt(frontMatter, DocFrontMatterSchema, {
+    convert: true,
+    allowUnknown: true,
+  });
 }
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/docs.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/docs.ts
index 7cdfc1c724f2..d84a3840245f 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/docs.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/docs.ts
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ import getSlug from './slug';
 import {CURRENT_VERSION_NAME} from './constants';
 import globby from 'globby';
 import {getDocsDirPaths} from './versions';
-import {extractNumberPrefix, stripPathNumberPrefixes} from './numberPrefix';
-import {assertDocFrontMatter} from './docFrontMatter';
+import {stripPathNumberPrefixes} from './numberPrefix';
+import {validateDocFrontMatter} from './docFrontMatter';
 
 type LastUpdateOptions = Pick<
   PluginOptions,
@@ -117,18 +117,22 @@ export function processDocMetadata({
   const {homePageId} = options;
   const {siteDir, i18n} = context;
 
-  const {frontMatter, contentTitle, excerpt} = parseMarkdownString(content, {
+  const {
+    frontMatter: unsafeFrontMatter,
+    contentTitle,
+    excerpt,
+  } = parseMarkdownString(content, {
     source,
   });
-  assertDocFrontMatter(frontMatter);
+  const frontMatter = validateDocFrontMatter(unsafeFrontMatter);
 
   const {
     sidebar_label: sidebarLabel,
     custom_edit_url: customEditURL,
 
     // Strip number prefixes by default (01-MyFolder/01-MyDoc.md => MyFolder/MyDoc) by default,
-    // but ability to disable this behavior with frontmatterr
-    strip_number_prefixes: stripNumberPrefixes = true,
+    // but allow to disable this behavior with frontmatterr
+    parse_number_prefixes = true,
   } = frontMatter;
 
   // ex: api/plugins/myDoc -> myDoc
@@ -142,8 +146,8 @@ export function processDocMetadata({
   // ex: myDoc -> .
   const sourceDirName = path.dirname(source);
 
-  const {filename: unprefixedFileName, numberPrefix} = stripNumberPrefixes
-    ? extractNumberPrefix(sourceFileNameWithoutExtension)
+  const {filename: unprefixedFileName, numberPrefix} = parse_number_prefixes
+    ? options.numberPrefixParser(sourceFileNameWithoutExtension)
     : {filename: sourceFileNameWithoutExtension, numberPrefix: undefined};
 
   const baseID: string = frontMatter.id ?? unprefixedFileName;
@@ -170,8 +174,8 @@ export function processDocMetadata({
       return undefined;
     }
     // Eventually remove the number prefixes from intermediate directories
-    return stripNumberPrefixes
-      ? stripPathNumberPrefixes(sourceDirName)
+    return parse_number_prefixes
+      ? stripPathNumberPrefixes(sourceDirName, options.numberPrefixParser)
       : sourceDirName;
   }
 
@@ -197,7 +201,8 @@ export function processDocMetadata({
         baseID,
         dirName: sourceDirName,
         frontmatterSlug: frontMatter.slug,
-        stripDirNumberPrefixes: stripNumberPrefixes,
+        stripDirNumberPrefixes: parse_number_prefixes,
+        numberPrefixParser: options.numberPrefixParser,
       });
 
   // Default title is the id.
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/index.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/index.ts
index 72e12b8058a5..afb16d7c5f68 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/index.ts
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ export default function pluginContentDocs(
 
         const sidebars = await processSidebars({
           sidebarItemsGenerator: options.sidebarItemsGenerator,
+          numberPrefixParser: options.numberPrefixParser,
           unprocessedSidebars,
           docs: docsBase,
           version: versionMetadata,
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/numberPrefix.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/numberPrefix.ts
index 0caa02709a0d..7e14271e557e 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/numberPrefix.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/numberPrefix.ts
@@ -5,23 +5,34 @@
  * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
  */
 
-const NumberPrefixRegex = /^(?<numberPrefix>\d+)(?<separator>\s*[-_.]+\s*)(?<suffix>.*)$/;
+import {NumberPrefixParser} from './types';
 
-// 0-myDoc => myDoc
-export function stripNumberPrefix(str: string) {
-  return NumberPrefixRegex.exec(str)?.groups?.suffix ?? str;
-}
+// Best-effort to avoid parsing some patterns as number prefix
+const IgnoredPrefixPatterns = (function () {
+  // ignore common date-like patterns: https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/issues/4640
+  const DateLikePrefixRegex = /^((\d{2}|\d{4})[-_.]\d{2}([-_.](\d{2}|\d{4}))?)(.*)$/;
 
-// 0-myFolder/0-mySubfolder/0-myDoc => myFolder/mySubfolder/myDoc
-export function stripPathNumberPrefixes(path: string) {
-  return path.split('/').map(stripNumberPrefix).join('/');
-}
+  // ignore common versioning patterns: https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/issues/4653
+  // note: we could try to parse float numbers in filenames but that is probably not worth it
+  // as a version such as "8.0" can be interpreted as both a version and a float
+  // User can configure his own NumberPrefixParser if he wants 8.0 to be interpreted as a float
+  const VersionLikePrefixRegex = /^(\d+[-_.]\d+)(.*)$/;
+
+  return new RegExp(
+    `${DateLikePrefixRegex.source}|${VersionLikePrefixRegex.source}`,
+  );
+})();
+
+const NumberPrefixRegex = /^(?<numberPrefix>\d+)(?<separator>\s*[-_.]+\s*)(?<suffix>.*)$/;
 
 // 0-myDoc => {filename: myDoc, numberPrefix: 0}
 // 003 - myDoc => {filename: myDoc, numberPrefix: 3}
-export function extractNumberPrefix(
+export const DefaultNumberPrefixParser: NumberPrefixParser = (
   filename: string,
-): {filename: string; numberPrefix?: number} {
+) => {
+  if (IgnoredPrefixPatterns.exec(filename)) {
+    return {filename, numberPrefix: undefined};
+  }
   const match = NumberPrefixRegex.exec(filename);
   const cleanFileName = match?.groups?.suffix ?? filename;
   const numberPrefixString = match?.groups?.numberPrefix;
@@ -32,4 +43,27 @@ export function extractNumberPrefix(
     filename: cleanFileName,
     numberPrefix,
   };
+};
+
+export const DisabledNumberPrefixParser: NumberPrefixParser = (
+  filename: string,
+) => ({filename, numberPrefix: undefined});
+
+// 0-myDoc => myDoc
+export function stripNumberPrefix(
+  str: string,
+  parser: NumberPrefixParser,
+): string {
+  return parser(str).filename;
+}
+
+// 0-myFolder/0-mySubfolder/0-myDoc => myFolder/mySubfolder/myDoc
+export function stripPathNumberPrefixes(
+  path: string,
+  parser: NumberPrefixParser,
+): string {
+  return path
+    .split('/')
+    .map((segment) => stripNumberPrefix(segment, parser))
+    .join('/');
 }
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/options.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/options.ts
index 189824535d67..5ebf6c0342c7 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/options.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/options.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ import {OptionValidationContext, ValidationResult} from '@docusaurus/types';
 import chalk from 'chalk';
 import admonitions from 'remark-admonitions';
 import {DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator} from './sidebarItemsGenerator';
+import {
+  DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
+  DisabledNumberPrefixParser,
+} from './numberPrefix';
 
 export const DEFAULT_OPTIONS: Omit<PluginOptions, 'id'> = {
   path: 'docs', // Path to data on filesystem, relative to site dir.
@@ -24,6 +28,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_OPTIONS: Omit<PluginOptions, 'id'> = {
   include: ['**/*.{md,mdx}'], // Extensions to include.
   sidebarPath: 'sidebars.json', // Path to the sidebars configuration file
   sidebarItemsGenerator: DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator,
+  numberPrefixParser: DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
   docLayoutComponent: '@theme/DocPage',
   docItemComponent: '@theme/DocItem',
   remarkPlugins: [],
@@ -66,6 +71,17 @@ export const OptionsSchema = Joi.object({
   sidebarItemsGenerator: Joi.function().default(
     () => DEFAULT_OPTIONS.sidebarItemsGenerator,
   ),
+  numberPrefixParser: Joi.alternatives()
+    .try(
+      Joi.function(),
+      // Convert boolean values to functions
+      Joi.alternatives().conditional(Joi.boolean(), {
+        then: Joi.custom((val) =>
+          val ? DefaultNumberPrefixParser : DisabledNumberPrefixParser,
+        ),
+      }),
+    )
+    .default(() => DEFAULT_OPTIONS.numberPrefixParser),
   docLayoutComponent: Joi.string().default(DEFAULT_OPTIONS.docLayoutComponent),
   docItemComponent: Joi.string().default(DEFAULT_OPTIONS.docItemComponent),
   remarkPlugins: RemarkPluginsSchema.default(DEFAULT_OPTIONS.remarkPlugins),
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/sidebarItemsGenerator.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/sidebarItemsGenerator.ts
index f35c52493b0b..d09a2afdbe7b 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/sidebarItemsGenerator.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/sidebarItemsGenerator.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import {
 import {sortBy, take, last, orderBy} from 'lodash';
 import {addTrailingSlash, posixPath} from '@docusaurus/utils';
 import {Joi} from '@docusaurus/utils-validation';
-import {extractNumberPrefix} from './numberPrefix';
 import chalk from 'chalk';
 import path from 'path';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
@@ -41,20 +40,22 @@ type WithPosition = {position?: number};
 type SidebarItemWithPosition = SidebarItem & WithPosition;
 
 const CategoryMetadatasFileSchema = Joi.object<CategoryMetadatasFile>({
-  label: Joi.string().optional(),
-  position: Joi.number().optional(),
-  collapsed: Joi.boolean().optional(),
+  label: Joi.string(),
+  position: Joi.number(),
+  collapsed: Joi.boolean(),
 });
 
+// TODO I now believe we should read all the category metadata files ahead of time: we may need this metadata to customize docs metadata
+// Example use-case being able to disable number prefix parsing at the folder level, or customize the default route path segment for an intermediate directory...
 // TODO later if there is `CategoryFolder/index.md`, we may want to read the metadata as yaml on it
 // see https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/issues/3464#issuecomment-818670449
 async function readCategoryMetadatasFile(
   categoryDirPath: string,
 ): Promise<CategoryMetadatasFile | null> {
-  function assertCategoryMetadataFile(
+  function validateCategoryMetadataFile(
     content: unknown,
-  ): asserts content is CategoryMetadatasFile {
-    Joi.attempt(content, CategoryMetadatasFileSchema);
+  ): CategoryMetadatasFile {
+    return Joi.attempt(content, CategoryMetadatasFileSchema);
   }
 
   async function tryReadFile(
@@ -69,8 +70,7 @@ async function readCategoryMetadatasFile(
       const contentString = await fs.readFile(filePath, {encoding: 'utf8'});
       const unsafeContent: unknown = parse(contentString);
       try {
-        assertCategoryMetadataFile(unsafeContent);
-        return unsafeContent;
+        return validateCategoryMetadataFile(unsafeContent);
       } catch (e) {
         console.error(
           chalk.red(
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ export const DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator: SidebarItemsGenerator = async functio
   item,
   docs: allDocs,
   version,
+  numberPrefixParser,
 }): Promise<SidebarItem[]> {
   // Doc at the root of the autogenerated sidebar dir
   function isRootDoc(doc: SidebarItemsGeneratorDoc) {
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ export const DefaultSidebarItemsGenerator: SidebarItemsGenerator = async functio
 
     const {tail} = parseBreadcrumb(breadcrumb);
 
-    const {filename, numberPrefix} = extractNumberPrefix(tail);
+    const {filename, numberPrefix} = numberPrefixParser(tail);
 
     const position = categoryMetadatas?.position ?? numberPrefix;
 
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/sidebars.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/sidebars.ts
index 56496e7038fe..53b202e9dae4 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/sidebars.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/sidebars.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import {
   SidebarItemsGenerator,
   SidebarItemsGeneratorDoc,
   SidebarItemsGeneratorVersion,
+  NumberPrefixParser,
 } from './types';
 import {mapValues, flatten, flatMap, difference, pick, memoize} from 'lodash';
 import {getElementsAround} from '@docusaurus/utils';
@@ -289,11 +290,13 @@ export function toSidebarItemsGeneratorVersion(
 // Handle the generation of autogenerated sidebar items
 export async function processSidebar({
   sidebarItemsGenerator,
+  numberPrefixParser,
   unprocessedSidebar,
   docs,
   version,
 }: {
   sidebarItemsGenerator: SidebarItemsGenerator;
+  numberPrefixParser: NumberPrefixParser;
   unprocessedSidebar: UnprocessedSidebar;
   docs: DocMetadataBase[];
   version: VersionMetadata;
@@ -318,6 +321,7 @@ export async function processSidebar({
     if (item.type === 'autogenerated') {
       return sidebarItemsGenerator({
         item,
+        numberPrefixParser,
         ...getSidebarItemsGeneratorDocsAndVersion(),
       });
     }
@@ -329,11 +333,13 @@ export async function processSidebar({
 
 export async function processSidebars({
   sidebarItemsGenerator,
+  numberPrefixParser,
   unprocessedSidebars,
   docs,
   version,
 }: {
   sidebarItemsGenerator: SidebarItemsGenerator;
+  numberPrefixParser: NumberPrefixParser;
   unprocessedSidebars: UnprocessedSidebars;
   docs: DocMetadataBase[];
   version: VersionMetadata;
@@ -342,6 +348,7 @@ export async function processSidebars({
     mapValues(unprocessedSidebars, (unprocessedSidebar) =>
       processSidebar({
         sidebarItemsGenerator,
+        numberPrefixParser,
         unprocessedSidebar,
         docs,
         version,
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/slug.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/slug.ts
index 32556a8582e1..4ca410cbf118 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/slug.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/slug.ts
@@ -11,18 +11,24 @@ import {
   isValidPathname,
   resolvePathname,
 } from '@docusaurus/utils';
-import {stripPathNumberPrefixes} from './numberPrefix';
+import {
+  DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
+  stripPathNumberPrefixes,
+} from './numberPrefix';
+import {NumberPrefixParser} from './types';
 
 export default function getSlug({
   baseID,
   frontmatterSlug,
   dirName,
   stripDirNumberPrefixes = true,
+  numberPrefixParser = DefaultNumberPrefixParser,
 }: {
   baseID: string;
   frontmatterSlug?: string;
   dirName: string;
   stripDirNumberPrefixes?: boolean;
+  numberPrefixParser?: NumberPrefixParser;
 }): string {
   const baseSlug = frontmatterSlug || baseID;
   let slug: string;
@@ -30,7 +36,7 @@ export default function getSlug({
     slug = baseSlug;
   } else {
     const dirNameStripped = stripDirNumberPrefixes
-      ? stripPathNumberPrefixes(dirName)
+      ? stripPathNumberPrefixes(dirName, numberPrefixParser)
       : dirName;
     const resolveDirname =
       dirName === '.'
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/types.ts b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/types.ts
index 3c1633f0f5fe..b64258612361 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/src/types.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ export type MetadataOptions = {
   editLocalizedFiles: boolean;
   showLastUpdateTime?: boolean;
   showLastUpdateAuthor?: boolean;
+  numberPrefixParser: NumberPrefixParser;
 };
 
 export type PathOptions = {
@@ -154,6 +155,7 @@ export type SidebarItemsGenerator = (generatorArgs: {
   item: UnprocessedSidebarItemAutogenerated;
   version: SidebarItemsGeneratorVersion;
   docs: SidebarItemsGeneratorDoc[];
+  numberPrefixParser: NumberPrefixParser;
 }) => Promise<SidebarItem[]>;
 
 export type OrderMetadata = {
@@ -245,3 +247,7 @@ export type DocsMarkdownOption = {
   sourceToPermalink: SourceToPermalink;
   onBrokenMarkdownLink: (brokenMarkdownLink: BrokenMarkdownLink) => void;
 };
+
+export type NumberPrefixParser = (
+  filename: string,
+) => {filename: string; numberPrefix?: number};
diff --git a/website/docs/api/plugins/plugin-content-docs.md b/website/docs/api/plugins/plugin-content-docs.md
index 690c2e279e4d..639d0ac74bb5 100644
--- a/website/docs/api/plugins/plugin-content-docs.md
+++ b/website/docs/api/plugins/plugin-content-docs.md
@@ -76,10 +76,35 @@ module.exports = {
          * Function used to replace the sidebar items of type "autogenerated"
          * by real sidebar items (docs, categories, links...)
          */
-        sidebarItemsGenerator: function ({item, version, docs}) {
+        sidebarItemsGenerator: function ({
+          item,
+          version,
+          docs,
+          numberPrefixParser,
+        }) {
           // Use the provided data to create a custom "sidebar slice"
           return [{type: 'doc', id: 'doc1'}];
         },
+        /**
+         * The Docs plugin supports number prefixes like "01-My Folder/02.My Doc.md".
+         * Number prefixes are extracted and used as position to order autogenerated sidebar items.
+         * For conveniency, number prefixes are automatically removed from the default doc id, name, title.
+         * This parsing logic is configurable to allow all possible usecases and filename patterns.
+         * Use "false" to disable this behavior and leave the docs untouched.
+         */
+        numberPrefixParser: function (filename) {
+          // Implement your own logic to extract a potential number prefix
+          const numberPrefix = findNumberPrefix(filename);
+          // Prefix found: return it with the cleaned filename
+          if (numberPrefix) {
+            return {
+              numberPrefix,
+              filename: filename.replace(prefix, ''),
+            };
+          }
+          // No number prefix found
+          return {numberPrefix: undefined, filename};
+        },
         /**
          * Theme components used by the docs pages
          */
@@ -165,7 +190,7 @@ Markdown documents can use the following markdown frontmatter metadata fields, e
 - `hide_table_of_contents`: Whether to hide the table of contents to the right. By default it is `false`
 - `sidebar_label`: The text shown in the document sidebar and in the next/previous button for this document. If this field is not present, the document's `sidebar_label` will default to its `title`
 - `sidebar_position`: Permits to control the position of a doc inside the generated sidebar slice, when using `autogenerated` sidebar items. Can be Int or Float.
-- `strip_number_prefixes`: When a document has a number prefix (`001 - My Doc.md`, `2. MyDoc.md`...), it is automatically removed, and the prefix is used as `sidebar_position`. Use `strip_number_prefixes: false` if you want to disable this behavior
+- `parse_number_prefixes`: When a document has a number prefix (`001 - My Doc.md`, `2. MyDoc.md`...), it is automatically parsed and extracted by the plugin `numberPrefixParser`, and the number prefix is used as `sidebar_position`. Use `parse_number_prefixes: false` to disable number prefix parsing on this doc
 - `custom_edit_url`: The URL for editing this document. If this field is not present, the document's edit URL will fall back to `editUrl` from options fields passed to `docusaurus-plugin-content-docs`
 - `keywords`: Keywords meta tag for the document page, for search engines
 - `description`: The description of your document, which will become the `<meta name="description" content="..."/>` and `<meta property="og:description" content="..."/>` in `<head>`, used by search engines. If this field is not present, it will default to the first line of the contents