diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a50ffc7..707388e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 *.swo
 .DS_Store
 res/
+activate
 
 # PyCharm
 .idea
diff --git a/src/pyvalem/states/key_value_pair.py b/src/pyvalem/states/key_value_pair.py
index 071cd0f..9b88904 100644
--- a/src/pyvalem/states/key_value_pair.py
+++ b/src/pyvalem/states/key_value_pair.py
@@ -55,5 +55,8 @@ def __repr__(self):
     @property
     def ordering(self):
         if self.key == "n":
-            return 0
-        return ord(self.key)
+        # Move up n to the first position for ordering by replacing it with
+        # a space (ASCII 32, the first printable character and not a real valid
+        # key.
+            return " "
+        return self.key