diff --git a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/transport/TransportVersionId.java b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/transport/TransportVersionId.java
index 1fa0d8f46eea8..407c3bd511f09 100644
--- a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/transport/TransportVersionId.java
+++ b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/transport/TransportVersionId.java
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ static TransportVersionId fromString(String s) {
 
     @Override
     public int compareTo(TransportVersionId o) {
-        return Integer.compare(complete, o.complete);
+        // note: this is descending order so the arguments are reversed
+        return Integer.compare(o.complete, complete);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/transport/ValidateTransportVersionResourcesTask.java b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/transport/ValidateTransportVersionResourcesTask.java
index 0b4f15eb5ccaa..25ef7253e00df 100644
--- a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/transport/ValidateTransportVersionResourcesTask.java
+++ b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/transport/ValidateTransportVersionResourcesTask.java
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ private void validateDefinition(TransportVersionDefinition definition, Set<Strin
         if (definition.ids().isEmpty()) {
             throwDefinitionFailure(definition, "does not contain any ids");
         }
-        if (Comparators.isInOrder(definition.ids(), Comparator.reverseOrder()) == false) {
+        if (Comparators.isInOrder(definition.ids(), Comparator.naturalOrder()) == false) {
             throwDefinitionFailure(definition, "does not have ordered ids");
         }
         for (int ndx = 0; ndx < definition.ids().size(); ++ndx) {