--- xfconf-4.6.1.orig/xfconfd/xfconf-backend-perchannel-xml.c
+++ xfconf-4.6.1/xfconfd/xfconf-backend-perchannel-xml.c
@@ -1669,13 +1669,20 @@
     prop->name = g_strdup("/");
     channel->properties = g_node_new(prop);
 
-    /* read in system files */
+    /* put back in the correct priority order for merge:
+       last one = most important */
+    GSList *xdg_filenames = NULL;
     for(i = 0; filenames[i]; ++i) {
-        if(user_file && !strcmp(filenames[i], user_file))
+        xdg_filenames = g_slist_prepend(xdg_filenames, filenames[i]);
+    }
+    /* read in system files */
+    for(i = 0; g_slist_nth_data(xdg_filenames, i); ++i) {
+        if(user_file && !strcmp(g_slist_nth_data(xdg_filenames, i), user_file))
             continue;
-        xfconf_backend_perchannel_xml_merge_file(xbpx, filenames[i], TRUE,
+        xfconf_backend_perchannel_xml_merge_file(xbpx, g_slist_nth_data(xdg_filenames, i), TRUE,
                                                  channel, NULL);
     }
+    g_slist_free(xdg_filenames);
 
     if(!channel->locked && user_file) {
         /* read in user file */