diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/pipelines/lib/stage.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/pipelines/lib/stage.ts
index 6b379f686fe2e..dd5aa28c5e50e 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/pipelines/lib/stage.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/pipelines/lib/stage.ts
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ export class CdkStage extends Construct {
     if (this._prepared) { return; }
     this._prepared = true;
 
-    for (const { prepareRunOrder: runOrder, stackArtifact } of this.stacksToDeploy) {
+    for (const { prepareRunOrder, stackArtifact, executeRunOrder } of this.stacksToDeploy) {
       const artifact = this.host.stackOutputArtifact(stackArtifact.id);
 
       this.pipelineStage.addAction(DeployCdkStackAction.fromStackArtifact(this, stackArtifact, {
@@ -192,7 +192,8 @@ export class CdkStage extends Construct {
         cloudAssemblyInput: this.cloudAssemblyArtifact,
         output: artifact,
         outputFileName: artifact ? 'outputs.json' : undefined,
-        prepareRunOrder: runOrder,
+        prepareRunOrder,
+        executeRunOrder,
       }));
     }
   }
@@ -387,4 +388,4 @@ interface DeployStackCommand {
   prepareRunOrder: number;
   executeRunOrder: number;
   stackArtifact: cxapi.CloudFormationStackArtifact;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/pipelines/test/stack-ordering.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/pipelines/test/stack-ordering.test.ts
index e755572c78544..45d0cb76bf6b8 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/pipelines/test/stack-ordering.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/pipelines/test/stack-ordering.test.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,29 @@ test('multiple independent stacks go in parallel', () => {
   });
 });
 
+test('manual approval is inserted in correct location', () => {
+  // WHEN
+  pipeline.addApplicationStage(new TwoStackApp(app, 'MyApp'), {
+    manualApprovals: true,
+  });
+
+  // THEN
+  expect(pipelineStack).toHaveResourceLike('AWS::CodePipeline::Pipeline', {
+    Stages: arrayWith({
+      Name: 'MyApp',
+      Actions: sortedByRunOrder([
+        objectLike({ Name: 'Stack1.Prepare' }),
+        objectLike({ Name: 'ManualApproval' }),
+        objectLike({ Name: 'Stack1.Deploy' }),
+        objectLike({ Name: 'Stack2.Prepare' }),
+        objectLike({ Name: 'ManualApproval2' }),
+        objectLike({ Name: 'Stack2.Deploy' }),
+      ]),
+    }),
+  });
+});
+
+
 class TwoStackApp extends Stage {
   constructor(scope: Construct, id: string, props?: StageProps) {
     super(scope, id, props);
@@ -80,4 +103,4 @@ class ThreeStackApp extends Stage {
     stack3.addDependency(stack1);
     stack3.addDependency(stack2);
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}