diff --git a/beets/ui/commands.py b/beets/ui/commands.py
index 6adc27786..1ed03bb9e 100755
--- a/beets/ui/commands.py
+++ b/beets/ui/commands.py
@@ -1376,10 +1376,10 @@ def modify_items(lib, mods, dels, query, write, move, album, confirm):
     # objects.
     print_(u'Modifying {0} {1}s.'
            .format(len(objs), u'album' if album else u'item'))
-    changed = set()
+    changed = []
     for obj in objs:
-        if print_and_modify(obj, mods, dels):
-            changed.add(obj)
+        if print_and_modify(obj, mods, dels) and obj not in changed:
+            changed.append(obj)
 
     # Still something to do?
     if not changed:
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 9ff3a5008..fec36af67 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@ Fixes:
 * Missing album art file during an update no longer causes a fatal exception
   (instead, an error is logged and the missing file path is removed from the
   library). :bug:`3030`
+* Fixed the ordering of items when manually selecting changes while updating
+  tags
+  Thanks to :user:`TaizoSimpson`.
+  :bug:`3501`
 
 .. _python-itunes: https://github.com/ocelma/python-itunes