diff --git a/src/sortable.js b/src/sortable.js
index 7c799d1..3671a15 100644
--- a/src/sortable.js
+++ b/src/sortable.js
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ angular.module('ui.sortable', [])
                     }
                     return;
                   }
-                  
+
                   if (!defaultOptions) {
                     defaultOptions = angular.element.ui.sortable().options;
                   }
@@ -195,6 +195,20 @@ angular.module('ui.sortable', [])
                 break;
               }
             }
+            //If result is still null it means that the draggable (ng-repeat) item isn't a direct child of
+            //the element containing the ui.sortable directive.  This may be required when using the ui.sortable
+            //directive with other directives that have isolated scopes.  This will compare x.element[0]
+            //with the closest ancestorof element[0] that has the ui-sortable attribute to get the applicable
+            //element scope.
+            if (!result) {
+              for (i = 0; i < elementScopes.length; i++) {
+                x = elementScopes[i];
+                if (x.element[0] === element[0].closest('[ui-sortable]')) {
+                  result = x.scope;
+                  break;
+                }
+              }
+            }
             return result;
           }
 
@@ -372,7 +386,6 @@ angular.module('ui.sortable', [])
               if(!ui.item.sortable.received &&
                  ('dropindex' in ui.item.sortable) &&
                  !ui.item.sortable.isCanceled()) {
-
                 scope.$apply(function () {
                   ngModel.$modelValue.splice(
                     ui.item.sortable.dropindex, 0,
@@ -458,7 +471,7 @@ angular.module('ui.sortable', [])
               var sortableWidgetInstance = getSortableWidgetInstance(element);
               if (!!sortableWidgetInstance) {
                 var optsDiff = patchUISortableOptions(newVal, oldVal, sortableWidgetInstance);
-                
+
                 if (optsDiff) {
                   element.sortable('option', optsDiff);
                 }
@@ -474,7 +487,7 @@ angular.module('ui.sortable', [])
             } else {
               $log.info('ui.sortable: ngModel not provided!', element);
             }
-            
+
             // Create sortable
             element.sortable(opts);
           }