diff --git a/hgext3rd/dirsync.py b/hgext3rd/dirsync.py
--- a/hgext3rd/dirsync.py
+++ b/hgext3rd/dirsync.py
@@ -5,13 +5,14 @@
 # This software may be used and distributed according to the terms of the
 # GNU General Public License version 2 or any later version.
 """
-dirsync is an extension for keeping directories in a repo synchronized.
-
-Configure it by adding the following config options to your .hg/hgrc.
+keep directories in a repo synchronized (DEPRECATED)
 
-[dirsync]
-projectX.dir1 = path/to/dir1
-projectX.dir2 = path/dir2
+Configure it by adding the following config options to your .hg/hgrc or
+.hgdirsync in the root of the repo::
+
+    [dirsync]
+    projectX.dir1 = path/to/dir1
+    projectX.dir2 = path/dir2
 
 The configs are of the form "group.name = path-to-dir". Every config entry with
 the same `group` will be mirrored amongst each other. The `name` is just used to
@@ -20,19 +21,18 @@
 the trailing '/' or not.
 
 Multiple mirror groups can be specified at once, and you can mirror between an
-arbitrary number of directories. Ex:
+arbitrary number of directories::
 
-[dirsync]
-projectX.dir1 = path/to/dir1
-projectX.dir2 = path/dir2
-projectY.dir1 = otherpath/dir1
-projectY.dir2 = foo/bar
-projectY.dir3 = foo/goo/hoo
+    [dirsync]
+    projectX.dir1 = path/to/dir1
+    projectX.dir2 = path/dir2
+    projectY.dir1 = otherpath/dir1
+    projectY.dir2 = foo/bar
+    projectY.dir3 = foo/goo/hoo
 """
 
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
-from collections import defaultdict
 import errno
 from mercurial import (
     cmdutil,
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
     if content:
         ui._tcfg.parse(filename, '[dirsync]\n%s' % content, ['dirsync'])
 
-    maps = defaultdict(list)
+    maps = util.sortdict()
     for key, value in ui.configitems('dirsync'):
         if '.' not in key:
             continue
@@ -89,6 +89,8 @@
         # Normalize paths to have / at the end. For easy concatenation later.
         if value[-1] != '/':
             value = value + '/'
+        if name not in maps:
+            maps[name] = []
         maps[name].append(value)
     return maps
 
diff --git a/tests/test-dirsync.t b/tests/test-dirsync.t
--- a/tests/test-dirsync.t
+++ b/tests/test-dirsync.t
@@ -675,3 +675,33 @@
   mirrored changes in 'dir1/c' to 'dir7/c'
 
   $ cd ../..
+
+Rule order matters. Only the first one gets executed.
+
+  $ hg init $TESTTMP/repo-order1
+  $ cd $TESTTMP/repo-order1
+  $ cat >> .hgdirsync <<'EOF'
+  > a.dir1 = a/
+  > a.dir2 = b/
+  > c.dir1 = a/c/
+  > c.dir2 = c/
+  > EOF
+  $ mkdir -p a/c
+  $ echo 1 > a/c/1
+  $ hg commit -m 'order test' -A a
+  adding a/c/1
+  mirrored adding 'a/c/1' to 'b/c/1'
+
+  $ hg init $TESTTMP/repo-order2
+  $ cd $TESTTMP/repo-order2
+  $ cat >> .hgdirsync <<'EOF'
+  > c.dir1 = a/c/
+  > c.dir2 = c/
+  > a.dir1 = a/
+  > a.dir2 = b/
+  > EOF
+  $ mkdir -p a/c
+  $ echo 1 > a/c/1
+  $ hg commit -m 'order test' -A a
+  adding a/c/1
+  mirrored adding 'a/c/1' to 'c/1'