diff --git a/src/readstat_writer.c b/src/readstat_writer.c
index 6ab17a2d..bf20748b 100644
--- a/src/readstat_writer.c
+++ b/src/readstat_writer.c
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ static int readstat_compare_string_refs(const void *elem1, const void *elem2) {
     readstat_string_ref_t *ref1 = *(readstat_string_ref_t **)elem1;
     readstat_string_ref_t *ref2 = *(readstat_string_ref_t **)elem2;
 
-    if (ref1->first_v == ref2->first_v)
-        return ref1->first_o - ref2->first_o;
+    if (ref1->first_o == ref2->first_o)
+        return ref1->first_v - ref2->first_v;
 
-    return ref1->first_v - ref2->first_v;
+    return ref1->first_o - ref2->first_o;
 }
 
 readstat_string_ref_t *readstat_string_ref_init(const char *string) {
diff --git a/src/stata/readstat_dta_read.c b/src/stata/readstat_dta_read.c
index 952154b0..8dc4ace5 100644
--- a/src/stata/readstat_dta_read.c
+++ b/src/stata/readstat_dta_read.c
@@ -317,10 +317,10 @@ static readstat_error_t dta_read_tag(dta_ctx_t *ctx, const char *tag) {
 static int dta_compare_strls(const void *elem1, const void *elem2) {
     const dta_strl_t *key = (const dta_strl_t *)elem1;
     const dta_strl_t *target = *(const dta_strl_t **)elem2;
-    if (key->v == target->v)
-        return key->o - target->o;
+    if (key->o == target->o)
+        return key->v - target->v;
 
-    return key->v - target->v;
+    return key->o - target->o;
 }
 
 static dta_strl_t dta_interpret_strl_vo_bytes(dta_ctx_t *ctx, const unsigned char *vo_bytes) {