diff --git a/src/lib/template/dom-repeat.html b/src/lib/template/dom-repeat.html
index a1537efc68..ee3e99ed18 100644
--- a/src/lib/template/dom-repeat.html
+++ b/src/lib/template/dom-repeat.html
@@ -402,6 +402,10 @@
       return this.collection.getKey(a) - this.collection.getKey(b);
     },
 
+    _numericSort: function(a, b) {
+      return a - b;
+    },
+
     // Render method 2: incremental update using splices with user sort applied
     // ----
     // Removed/added keys are deduped, all removed rows are detached and pooled
@@ -438,7 +442,8 @@
       if (removedIdxs.length) {
         // Sort removed instances idx's then remove backwards,
         // so we don't invalidate instance index
-        removedIdxs.sort();
+        // use numeric sort, default .sort is alphabetic
+        removedIdxs.sort(this._numericSort);
         for (var i=removedIdxs.length-1; i>=0 ; i--) {
           var idx = removedIdxs[i];
           // Removed idx may be undefined if item was previously filtered out
diff --git a/test/unit/dom-repeat-elements.html b/test/unit/dom-repeat-elements.html
index cb1366b4e9..274294dae0 100644
--- a/test/unit/dom-repeat-elements.html
+++ b/test/unit/dom-repeat-elements.html
@@ -386,4 +386,28 @@
     }
   });
   </script>
-</dom-module>
\ No newline at end of file
+</dom-module>
+
+<dom-module id="x-primitive-large">
+  <template>
+    <template id="repeater" is="dom-repeat" items="{{items}}">
+      <div>{{item}}</div>
+    </template>
+  </template>
+  <script>
+    Polymer({
+      is: 'x-primitive-large',
+      properties: {
+        items: {
+          value: function() {
+            var ar = [];
+            for (var i = 0; i < 11; i++) {
+              ar.push(i);
+            }
+            return ar;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    });
+  </script>
+</dom-module>
diff --git a/test/unit/dom-repeat.html b/test/unit/dom-repeat.html
index 56757561d1..65de283c22 100644
--- a/test/unit/dom-repeat.html
+++ b/test/unit/dom-repeat.html
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ <h4>inDocumentRepeater</h4>
     </template>
   </div>
 
+  <h4>x-primitive-large</h4>
+  <x-primitive-large id="primitiveLarge"></x-primitive-large>
+
   <div id="inDocumentContainer">
   </div>
 
@@ -1267,6 +1270,17 @@ <h4>inDocumentRepeater</h4>
         });
       });
 
+      test('large splice', function(done) {
+        primitiveLarge.splice('items', 0, 10);
+        setTimeout(function() {
+          var stamped =
+            Polymer.dom(primitiveLarge.root).querySelectorAll('*:not(template)');
+          assert.equal(stamped.length, 1, 'total stamped count incorrect');
+          assert.equal(stamped[0].textContent, '10');
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+
       test('css scoping retained when re-ordering', function(done) {
         if (!Polymer.Settings.useShadow) {
           // Confirm initial scoping