diff --git a/playground/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/indels/ConsensusSequence.java b/playground/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/indels/ConsensusSequence.java
index d1666fc2a..275b2fb34 100644
--- a/playground/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/indels/ConsensusSequence.java
+++ b/playground/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/indels/ConsensusSequence.java
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ public class ConsensusSequence {
                 base = BASES[z];
             }
         }
-        return base;
+        return new Pair<Character,Integer>(base,bmax);
     }