diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
index 0d0f97f591e..67de78a167f 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
@@ -1625,7 +1625,7 @@ where
             break;
         }
 
-        if starts_with_plus(&arg) {
+        if arg.as_encoded_bytes().first() == Some(&b'+') {
             let as_str = arg.to_string_lossy();
             if let Some(from_spec) = as_str.strip_prefix('+') {
                 if let Some(from) = parse_legacy_part(from_spec) {
@@ -1669,17 +1669,6 @@ where
     (processed, legacy_warnings)
 }
 
-fn starts_with_plus(arg: &OsStr) -> bool {
-    #[cfg(unix)]
-    {
-        arg.as_bytes().first() == Some(&b'+')
-    }
-    #[cfg(not(unix))]
-    {
-        arg.to_string_lossy().starts_with('+')
-    }
-}
-
 fn index_legacy_warnings(processed_args: &[OsString], legacy_warnings: &mut [LegacyKeyWarning]) {
     if legacy_warnings.is_empty() {
         return;