diff --git a/src/packaging/version.py b/src/packaging/version.py
index 7ee73628..48705389 100644
--- a/src/packaging/version.py
+++ b/src/packaging/version.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ def __ne__(self, other: object) -> bool:
         (?P<release>[0-9]+(?:\.[0-9]+)*)                  # release segment
         (?P<pre>                                          # pre-release
             [-_\.]?
-            (?P<pre_l>(a|b|c|rc|alpha|beta|pre|preview))
+            (?P<pre_l>alpha|a|beta|b|preview|pre|c|rc)
             [-_\.]?
             (?P<pre_n>[0-9]+)?
         )?