diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetFieldType.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetFieldType.java
index 01785359e0e..0ddbd6e2b40 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetFieldType.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetFieldType.java
@@ -517,7 +517,11 @@ public void setDatasetFieldDefaultValues(List<DatasetFieldDefaultValue> datasetF
 
     @Override
     public int compareTo(DatasetFieldType o) {
-        return Integer.compare(this.getDisplayOrder(), (o.getDisplayOrder()));
+        int result = Integer.compare(this.getDisplayOrder(), (o.getDisplayOrder()));
+        if(!this.isHasParent() && o.isChild() && result == 0) {
+            result = -1;
+        }
+        return result;
     }
     
     public String getDisplayName() {