diff --git a/base/abstractarray.jl b/base/abstractarray.jl
index add8ecb47a341..b5db05bd09ea2 100644
--- a/base/abstractarray.jl
+++ b/base/abstractarray.jl
@@ -3020,6 +3020,8 @@ function isequal(A::AbstractArray, B::AbstractArray)
 end
 
 function cmp(A::AbstractVector, B::AbstractVector)
+    ai1, bi1 = firstindex(A), firstindex(B)
+    isequal(ai1, bi1) || return cmp(ai1, bi1)
     for (a, b) in zip(A, B)
         if !isequal(a, b)
             return isless(a, b) ? -1 : 1
@@ -3040,7 +3042,8 @@ end
 """
     isless(A::AbstractVector, B::AbstractVector)
 
-Return `true` when `A` is less than `B` in lexicographic order.
+Return `true` when `A` is less than `B`. Vectors are first compared by
+their starting indices, and then lexicographically by their elements.
 """
 isless(A::AbstractVector, B::AbstractVector) = cmp(A, B) < 0
 
diff --git a/test/arrayops.jl b/test/arrayops.jl
index e6f8e9ec6756d..d4b401152d7ef 100644
--- a/test/arrayops.jl
+++ b/test/arrayops.jl
@@ -1465,6 +1465,18 @@ end
     @test cmp([UInt8(1), UInt8(0)], [UInt8(0), UInt8(0)]) == 1
     @test cmp([UInt8(1), UInt8(0)], [UInt8(1), UInt8(0)]) == 0
     @test cmp([UInt8(0), UInt8(0)], [UInt8(1), UInt8(1)]) == -1
+
+    x = [1, 2, 3]
+    y = OffsetVector(x, -1)
+    @test cmp(x, y) == 1
+    @test cmp(y, x) == -1
+    @test !isless(x, y)
+    @test isless(y, x)
+
+    y2 = OffsetVector([1, 2, 3], 0)
+    @test cmp(x, y2) == 0
+    @test !isless(x, y2)
+    @test !isless(y2, x)
 end
 
 @testset "sort on arrays" begin