diff --git a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportOrderCheck.java b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportOrderCheck.java
index 8f04f9127c7..3956e629013 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportOrderCheck.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportOrderCheck.java
@@ -909,7 +909,7 @@ private static int getGroupNumber(Pattern[] patterns, String name) {
                     bestEnd = matcher.end();
                     bestPos = matcher.start();
                 }
-                else if (bestEnd < matcher.end()) {
+                else if (matcher.end() > bestEnd) {
                     bestIndex = i;
                     bestEnd = matcher.end();
                 }