diff --git a/merge-ort.c b/merge-ort.c
index d78b6b0873..d83ed8768f 100644
--- a/merge-ort.c
+++ b/merge-ort.c
@@ -492,6 +492,33 @@ static int detect_and_process_renames(struct merge_options *opt,
 	return clean;
 }
 
+static int string_list_df_name_compare(const char *one, const char *two)
+{
+	int onelen = strlen(one);
+	int twolen = strlen(two);
+	/*
+	 * Here we only care that entries for D/F conflicts are
+	 * adjacent, in particular with the file of the D/F conflict
+	 * appearing before files below the corresponding directory.
+	 * The order of the rest of the list is irrelevant for us.
+	 *
+	 * To achieve this, we sort with df_name_compare and provide
+	 * the mode S_IFDIR so that D/F conflicts will sort correctly.
+	 * We use the mode S_IFDIR for everything else for simplicity,
+	 * since in other cases any changes in their order due to
+	 * sorting cause no problems for us.
+	 */
+	int cmp = df_name_compare(one, onelen, S_IFDIR,
+				  two, twolen, S_IFDIR);
+	/*
+	 * Now that 'foo' and 'foo/bar' compare equal, we have to make sure
+	 * that 'foo' comes before 'foo/bar'.
+	 */
+	if (cmp)
+		return cmp;
+	return onelen - twolen;
+}
+
 /* Per entry merge function */
 static void process_entry(struct merge_options *opt,
 			  const char *path,
@@ -578,24 +605,44 @@ static void process_entries(struct merge_options *opt,
 {
 	struct hashmap_iter iter;
 	struct strmap_entry *e;
+	struct string_list plist = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
+	struct string_list_item *entry;
 
 	if (strmap_empty(&opt->priv->paths)) {
 		oidcpy(result_oid, opt->repo->hash_algo->empty_tree);
 		return;
 	}
 
+	/* Hack to pre-allocate plist to the desired size */
+	ALLOC_GROW(plist.items, strmap_get_size(&opt->priv->paths), plist.alloc);
+
+	/* Put every entry from paths into plist, then sort */
 	strmap_for_each_entry(&opt->priv->paths, &iter, e) {
+		string_list_append(&plist, e->key)->util = e->value;
+	}
+	plist.cmp = string_list_df_name_compare;
+	string_list_sort(&plist);
+
+	/*
+	 * Iterate over the items in reverse order, so we can handle paths
+	 * below a directory before needing to handle the directory itself.
+	 */
+	for (entry = &plist.items[plist.nr-1]; entry >= plist.items; --entry) {
+		char *path = entry->string;
 		/*
 		 * NOTE: mi may actually be a pointer to a conflict_info, but
 		 * we have to check mi->clean first to see if it's safe to
 		 * reassign to such a pointer type.
 		 */
-		struct merged_info *mi = e->value;
+		struct merged_info *mi = entry->util;
 
-		if (!mi->clean)
-			process_entry(opt, e->key, e->value);
+		if (!mi->clean) {
+			struct conflict_info *ci = (struct conflict_info *)mi;
+			process_entry(opt, path, ci);
+		}
 	}
 
+	string_list_clear(&plist, 0);
 	die("Tree creation not yet implemented");
 }