Index: object.c
===================================================================
--- object.c	(revision 59215)
+++ object.c	(working copy)
@@ -494,6 +494,11 @@
 	/* Now try three-way compare before giving up.  This is intentionally
 	   elaborate; if you have a it will raise TypeError if it detects two
 	   objects that aren't ordered with respect to each other. */
+	ok = PyObject_RichCompareBool(v, w, Py_EQ);
+	if (ok < 0)
+		return -1; /* Error */
+	if (ok)
+		return 0; /* Equal */
 	ok = PyObject_RichCompareBool(v, w, Py_LT);
 	if (ok < 0)
 		return -1; /* Error */
@@ -504,11 +509,6 @@
 		return -1; /* Error */
 	if (ok)
 		return 1; /* Greater than */
-	ok = PyObject_RichCompareBool(v, w, Py_EQ);
-	if (ok < 0)
-		return -1; /* Error */
-	if (ok)
-		return 0; /* Equal */
 
 	/* Give up */
 	PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,