diff --git a/lib/xml2js.js b/lib/xml2js.js
index 452c0ebe..b5b950ce 100644
--- a/lib/xml2js.js
+++ b/lib/xml2js.js
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@
       headless: false,
       chunkSize: 10000,
       emptyTag: '',
-      cdata: false
+      cdata: false,
+      sortkey: '#index'
     }
   };
 
@@ -139,9 +140,10 @@
     }
 
     Builder.prototype.buildObject = function(rootObj) {
-      var attrkey, charkey, render, rootElement, rootName;
+      var attrkey, charkey, render, rootElement, rootName, sortkey;
       attrkey = this.options.attrkey;
       charkey = this.options.charkey;
+      sortkey = this.options.sortkey;
       if ((Object.keys(rootObj).length === 1) && (this.options.rootName === exports.defaults['0.2'].rootName)) {
         rootName = Object.keys(rootObj)[0];
         rootObj = rootObj[rootName];
@@ -150,7 +152,8 @@
       }
       render = (function(_this) {
         return function(element, obj) {
-          var attr, child, entry, index, key, value;
+          var attr, child, entry, index, key, list, value;
+          list = [];
           if (typeof obj !== 'object') {
             if (_this.options.cdata && requiresCDATA(obj)) {
               element.raw(wrapCDATA(obj));
@@ -174,7 +177,35 @@
                 } else {
                   element = element.txt(child);
                 }
-              } else if (Array.isArray(child)) {
+              } else if (key === sortkey) {
+
+              } else {
+                if (Array.isArray(child)) {
+                  for (index in child) {
+                    if (!hasProp.call(child, index)) continue;
+                    entry = child[index];
+                    list.push({
+                      key: key,
+                      child: entry
+                    });
+                  }
+                } else {
+                  list.push({
+                    key: key,
+                    child: child
+                  });
+                }
+              }
+            }
+            list.sort(function(a, b) {
+              return (a.child[sortkey] || -1) - (b.child[sortkey] || -1);
+            });
+            for (index in list) {
+              if (!hasProp.call(list, index)) continue;
+              entry = list[index];
+              key = entry.key;
+              child = entry.child;
+              if (Array.isArray(child)) {
                 for (index in child) {
                   if (!hasProp.call(child, index)) continue;
                   entry = child[index];
@@ -335,7 +366,7 @@
       })(this);
       this.saxParser.onclosetag = (function(_this) {
         return function() {
-          var cdata, emptyStr, err, key, node, nodeName, obj, objClone, old, s, xpath;
+          var cdata, emptyStr, err, index, key, node, nodeName, obj, objClone, old, s, xpath;
           obj = stack.pop();
           nodeName = obj["#name"];
           if (!_this.options.explicitChildren || !_this.options.preserveChildrenOrder) {
@@ -409,6 +440,9 @@
                 obj = obj[charkey];
               }
             }
+          } else if (_this.options.preserveChildrenOrder) {
+            index = s ? Math.max(Object.keys(s).length - 2, 0) : 0;
+            obj[_this.options.sortkey] = index;
           }
           if (stack.length > 0) {
             return _this.assignOrPush(s, nodeName, obj);
diff --git a/src/xml2js.coffee b/src/xml2js.coffee
index bc0d6372..8661d50a 100644
--- a/src/xml2js.coffee
+++ b/src/xml2js.coffee
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ exports.defaults =
     chunkSize: 10000
     emptyTag: ''
     cdata: false
+    sortkey: '#index'
 
 class exports.ValidationError extends Error
   constructor: (message) ->
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ class exports.Builder
   buildObject: (rootObj) ->
     attrkey = @options.attrkey
     charkey = @options.charkey
+    sortkey = @options.sortkey
 
     # If there is a sane-looking first element to use as the root,
     # and the user hasn't specified a non-default rootName,
@@ -127,6 +129,8 @@ class exports.Builder
       rootName = @options.rootName
 
     render = (element, obj) =>
+      list = [];
+
       if typeof obj isnt 'object'
         # single element, just append it as text
         if @options.cdata && requiresCDATA obj
@@ -149,8 +153,25 @@ class exports.Builder
             else
               element = element.txt child
 
+          else if key is sortkey
+            # console.log(key)
+            # noop
+          else
+            if Array.isArray child
+              for own index, entry of child
+                list.push {key:key, child:entry}
+            else
+              list.push {key:key, child: child}
+
+        list.sort (a, b) ->
+          return (a.child[sortkey] || -1) - (b.child[sortkey] || -1)
+
+        for own index, entry of list
+          key = entry.key
+          child = entry.child
+
           # Case #3 Array data
-          else if Array.isArray child
+          if Array.isArray child
             for own index, entry of child
               if typeof entry is 'string'
                 if @options.cdata && requiresCDATA entry
@@ -337,6 +358,10 @@ class exports.Parser extends events.EventEmitter
           if Object.keys(obj).length == 1 and charkey of obj and not @EXPLICIT_CHARKEY
             obj = obj[charkey]
 
+      else if @options.preserveChildrenOrder
+        index = if s then Math.max(Object.keys(s).length - 2, 0) else 0
+        obj[@options.sortkey] = index
+
       # check whether we closed all the open tags
       if stack.length > 0
         @assignOrPush s, nodeName, obj