diff --git a/scripts/prt-auf b/scripts/prt-auf
index 042a1f3..e05fba9 100755
--- a/scripts/prt-auf
+++ b/scripts/prt-auf
@@ -671,38 +671,38 @@ sub port_diff { # find differences between the pkgdb and the repo
 }
 
 sub deporder { # returns a sorted list of packages required.
-  my $type=shift; my @seeds=@_; our @treewalk=(); our %missing;
-  our %level = map { $_ => 1 } @seeds; our $maxLevel=1; my @result;
+  my $type=shift; my @seeds=@_; our @treewalk=(); our %missing; our @result;
+  our %given = map { $_ => 1 } @seeds; our %imark=(); our %fmark=();
 
   # determine the minimal set of targets needed to satisfy all dependencies
-  foreach my $t (@seeds) { recurse_deptree(0,1,$t); }
+  foreach my $t (@seeds) { recurse_deptree(0,$t); }
 
   sub recurse_deptree {
-      my $greedy=shift; my $thisLevel=shift; my $s=shift; my %curdeps;
+      my $greedy=shift; my $s=shift; my %curdeps=();
 
-      # detect any dependencies that have been dropped from the repositories
-      if (! $V_REPO{$s}) { $missing{$s}=1; delete $level{$s}; return; }
+      # early return if this node has been visited already
+      if ($fmark{$s}) { return; }
 
-      # cycle detection
-      if (grep /^$s$/, @treewalk) {
+      # detect targets that have been dropped from the repositories
+      if (! $V_REPO{$s}) { $missing{$s}=1; $fmark{$s}=0; return; }
+
+      # dependency cycle detection
+      if ($imark{$s}) {
 	      return if ($greedy == 1);
 	      print "Dependency cycle found: ";
 	      foreach (@treewalk) { print "$_ => "; }
 	      print "$s\n";
-      } else { push(@treewalk, $s); }
+      }
 
-      # update the hash table and the height of the tree
-      if ( (! $level{$s}) or ($level{$s} < $thisLevel) ) {
-	      $level{$s} = $thisLevel;
-      } 
-      if ( $maxLevel < $thisLevel ) { $maxLevel = $thisLevel; }
+      push(@treewalk, $s); $imark{$s}=1;
 
+      # assemble the list of dependencies that must be visited next
       %curdeps = map { $_ => $greedy } split /[ ,]/, $DEPENDS{$s};
 
       # if the user toggles --softdeps, consider the optional dependencies 
       # that are already installed or are given on the command line
       if ($odepends{soft} == 1)  {
-           foreach (grep { ($V_INST{$_}) or ($level{$_}) } 
+           foreach (grep { ($V_INST{$_}) or ($given{$_}) } 
 		   split /[ ,]/, $SOFTDEPS{$s}) { 
    		$curdeps{$_} = 1;
 	   }
@@ -711,20 +711,15 @@ sub deporder { # returns a sorted list of packages required.
       foreach my $sd (keys %curdeps) {
 	      my $subit = who_aliased_to($sd);
 	      if ($subit) {
-		      recurse_deptree($curdeps{$sd},$thisLevel+1,$subit);
+		      recurse_deptree($curdeps{$sd},$subit);
 	      } else {
-		      recurse_deptree($curdeps{$sd},$thisLevel+1,$sd);
+		      recurse_deptree($curdeps{$sd},$sd);
 	      }
       }
-      pop (@treewalk);
-
-   } # proceed with the topological sort
-   # gather up all the targets farthest from the root of the tree,
-   # then reduce by 1 the level at which to search.
-   while ($maxLevel >= 1) {
-        push(@result, grep { ($level{$_} == $maxLevel) } keys %level);
-   	$maxLevel -= 1;
-   }
+      delete $imark{$s}; pop(@treewalk);
+      $fmark{$s} = 1;
+      push(@result, $s);
+   } 
 
    if ((keys %missing > 0) and ($type ne "quickdep")) { push (@result, "MISSING", sort(keys %missing)); }
    return @result;