diff --git a/src/stata/readstat_dta_read.c b/src/stata/readstat_dta_read.c
index ce07c333..6f736704 100644
--- a/src/stata/readstat_dta_read.c
+++ b/src/stata/readstat_dta_read.c
@@ -317,10 +317,9 @@ 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->o == target->o)
-        return key->v - target->v;
-
-    return key->o - target->o;
+    if (key->o != target->o)
+        return (key->o > target->o) - (key->o < target->o);
+    return (key->v > target->v) - (key->v < target->v);
 }
 
 static dta_strl_t dta_interpret_strl_vo_bytes(dta_ctx_t *ctx, const unsigned char *vo_bytes) {