diff --git a/library/src/main/java/com/google/maps/android/clustering/view/DefaultClusterRenderer.java b/library/src/main/java/com/google/maps/android/clustering/view/DefaultClusterRenderer.java
index 08ab0e081..679ec7123 100644
--- a/library/src/main/java/com/google/maps/android/clustering/view/DefaultClusterRenderer.java
+++ b/library/src/main/java/com/google/maps/android/clustering/view/DefaultClusterRenderer.java
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -836,6 +837,9 @@ protected void onBeforeClusterItemRendered(@NonNull T item, @NonNull MarkerOptio
         } else if (item.getSnippet() != null) {
             markerOptions.title(item.getSnippet());
         }
+        if (item.getZIndex() != null) {
+            markerOptions.zIndex(item.getZIndex());
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -906,6 +910,13 @@ protected void onClusterItemUpdated(@NonNull T item, @NonNull Marker marker) {
     protected void onBeforeClusterRendered(@NonNull Cluster<T> cluster, @NonNull MarkerOptions markerOptions) {
         // TODO: consider adding anchor(.5, .5) (Individual markers will overlap more often)
         markerOptions.icon(getDescriptorForCluster(cluster));
+        ArrayList<T> items = new ArrayList<>(cluster.getItems());
+        if (!items.isEmpty()) {
+            Float zIndex = items.get(0).getZIndex();
+            if (zIndex != null) {
+                markerOptions.zIndex(zIndex);
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     /**