diff --git a/packages/joint-core/src/dia/HighlighterView.mjs b/packages/joint-core/src/dia/HighlighterView.mjs
index ced89ed00..6cc3443e7 100644
--- a/packages/joint-core/src/dia/HighlighterView.mjs
+++ b/packages/joint-core/src/dia/HighlighterView.mjs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import * as mvc from '../mvc/index.mjs';
 import V from '../V/index.mjs';
-import { isPlainObject, result } from '../util/util.mjs';
+import { isNumber, isPlainObject, result } from '../util/util.mjs';
 
 function toArray(obj) {
     if (!obj) return [];
@@ -106,8 +106,8 @@ export const HighlighterView = mvc.View.extend({
             this.transform();
             return;
         }
-        const { vel: cellViewRoot, paper } = cellView;
-        const { layer: layerName } = options;
+        const { paper } = cellView;
+        const { layer: layerName, z } = options;
         if (layerName) {
             let vGroup;
             if (detachedTransformGroup) {
@@ -117,12 +117,30 @@ export const HighlighterView = mvc.View.extend({
                 vGroup = V('g').addClass('highlight-transform').append(el);
             }
             this.transformGroup = vGroup;
-            paper.getLayerView(layerName).insertSortedNode(vGroup.node, options.z);
+            paper.getLayerView(layerName).insertSortedNode(vGroup.node, z);
         } else {
-            // TODO: prepend vs append
-            if (!el.parentNode || el.nextSibling) {
-                // Not appended yet or not the last child
-                cellViewRoot.append(el);
+            const children = cellView.el.children;
+
+            const index = Math.max(z, 0);
+            const beforeChild = children[index];
+
+            // If the provided `z` is a number and there is an element on the index,
+            // we need to insert the highlighter before the element on the index.
+            // Otherwise, the highlighter will be appended as the last child.
+            const toBeInserted = isNumber(z) && beforeChild;
+            const isElementAtTargetPosition = toBeInserted
+                // If the element is being inserted, check if it is not already at the correct position.
+                ? el === beforeChild
+                // If the element is being appended, check if it is not already last child.
+                : !el.nextElementSibling;
+
+            // If the element is already mounted and does not require repositioning, do nothing.
+            if (el.parentNode && isElementAtTargetPosition) return;
+
+            if (toBeInserted) {
+                cellView.el.insertBefore(el, beforeChild);
+            } else {
+                cellView.el.appendChild(el);
             }
         }
     },
diff --git a/packages/joint-core/test/jointjs/dia/HighlighterView.js b/packages/joint-core/test/jointjs/dia/HighlighterView.js
index fb7c58e1c..664a1f70c 100644
--- a/packages/joint-core/test/jointjs/dia/HighlighterView.js
+++ b/packages/joint-core/test/jointjs/dia/HighlighterView.js
@@ -279,7 +279,22 @@ QUnit.module('HighlighterView', function(hooks) {
 
             });
 
-            QUnit.test('z', function(assert) {
+            QUnit.test('z - cell view', function(assert) {
+
+                const h1 = joint.dia.HighlighterView.add(elementView, 'body', 'highlighter-id-1', {
+                    z: 0
+                });
+
+                const h2 = joint.dia.HighlighterView.add(elementView, 'body', 'highlighter-id-2', {
+                    z: 1
+                });
+
+                assert.equal(elementView.el.children[0], h1.el);
+                assert.equal(elementView.el.children[1], h2.el);
+
+            });
+
+            QUnit.test('z - paper layer', function(assert) {
                 var layer = joint.dia.Paper.Layers.FRONT;
                 var h1 = joint.dia.HighlighterView.add(elementView, 'body', 'highlighter-id-1', { layer: layer, z: 2 });
                 var h2 = joint.dia.HighlighterView.add(elementView, 'body', 'highlighter-id-2', { layer: layer, z: 3  });