A piston and split piston ring assembly having a piston ring locator to prevent substantial rotation of the piston ring in a ring groove. A notch is provided in a wall of the ring groove and an abutment pocket is formed by the ends of the split piston ring. The piston ring locator is a flattened wire clip within the groove between the piston ring and the wall of the groove. A segment of the clip is displaced into the notch and another segment is displaced into the pocket.
