diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/util.go b/kyaml/yaml/util.go
index bada8711c..0e378cc18 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/util.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/util.go
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ func DeriveSeqIndentStyle(originalYAML string) string {
 		}
 		numSpacesBeforeSeqElem := len(elems[0])
 
-		if i == 0 {
+		// keyLine is the line before the first sequence element
+		keyLine := keyLineBeforeSeqElem(lines, i)
+		if keyLine == "" {
+			// there is no keyLine for this sequence node
+			// all of those lines are comments
 			continue
 		}
-
-		// keyLine is the line before the first sequence element
-		keyLine := lines[i-1]
-
 		numSpacesBeforeKeyElem := len(keyLine) - len(strings.TrimLeft(keyLine, " "))
 		trimmedKeyLine := strings.Trim(keyLine, " ")
 		if strings.Count(trimmedKeyLine, ":") != 1 || !strings.HasSuffix(trimmedKeyLine, ":") {
@@ -47,3 +47,22 @@ func DeriveSeqIndentStyle(originalYAML string) string {
 
 	return string(CompactSequenceStyle)
 }
+
+// keyLineBeforeSeqElem iterates through the lines before the first seqElement
+// and tries to find the non-comment key line for the sequence node
+func keyLineBeforeSeqElem(lines []string, seqElemIndex int) string {
+	// start with the previous line of sequence element
+	i := seqElemIndex - 1
+	for ; i >= 0; i-- {
+		line := lines[i]
+		trimmedLine := strings.Trim(line, " ")
+		if strings.HasPrefix(trimmedLine, "#") { // commented line
+			continue
+		}
+		// we have a non-commented line which can have a trailing comment
+		parts := strings.SplitN(line, "#", 2)
+		return parts[0] // throw away the trailing comment part
+	}
+	return ""
+
+}
diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/util_test.go b/kyaml/yaml/util_test.go
index ef0d1fb5d..63fd1c0bc 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/util_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/util_test.go
@@ -118,6 +118,21 @@ spec: +
 `,
 			expectedOutput: `compact`,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "handle comments",
+			input: `apiVersion: v1
+kind: Service
+spec:
+  ports: # comment 1
+    # comment 2
+    - name: etcd-server-ssl
+      port: 2380
+    # comment 3
+    - name: etcd-client-ssl
+      port: 2379
+`,
+			expectedOutput: `wide`,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "nested wide vs compact",
 			input: `apiVersion: apps/v1
@@ -140,6 +155,15 @@ abc:
 			input:          `  - foo`,
 			expectedOutput: `compact`,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "invalid resource but valid yaml sequence with comments",
+			input: `
+# comment 1
+  # comment 2
+  - foo
+`,
+			expectedOutput: `compact`,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "- within sequence element",
 			input: `apiVersion: apps/v1