diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPacking.melk b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPacking.melk
index cde949cc2..0a8a059f7 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPacking.melk
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPacking.melk
@@ -206,9 +206,9 @@ option inNewRow: boolean {
 }
 
 option orderBySize: boolean {
-    label "Order nodes by size"
+    label "Order nodes by height"
     description
-        "If set to true the nodes will be sorted by the size of their area before computing the layout. The largest
+        "If set to true the nodes will be sorted by their height before computing the layout. The highest
          node will be in the first position."
     default = false
     targets parents
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeComparator.java b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeComparator.java
index 4466f4aaa..3da9c90eb 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeComparator.java
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeComparator.java
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.elk.graph.ElkNode;
 
 /**
- * Node size comparator to compare nodes by their size
+ * Node size comparator to compare nodes by their height
  *
  */
 public class NodeSizeComparator implements Comparator<ElkNode> {
@@ -24,10 +24,7 @@ public class NodeSizeComparator implements Comparator<ElkNode> {
      */
     @Override
     public int compare(ElkNode node0, ElkNode node1) {
-        double area0 = node0.getWidth() * node0.getHeight();
-        double area1 = node1.getWidth() * node1.getHeight();
-        
-        return Double.compare(area1, area0);
+        return Double.compare(node1.getHeight(), node0.getHeight());
     }
 
 }