diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/oneoffprojects/walkers/TestVariantContextWalker.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/oneoffprojects/walkers/TestVariantContextWalker.java
index 165c39da6..8282fbf51 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/oneoffprojects/walkers/TestVariantContextWalker.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/oneoffprojects/walkers/TestVariantContextWalker.java
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ public class TestVariantContextWalker extends RodWalker<Integer, Integer> {
 
             int n = 0;
             for (VariantContext vc : tracker.getAllVariantContexts(ref, allowedTypes, context.getLocation(), onlyContextsStartinAtCurrentPosition, takeFirstOnly) ) {
+
+                // we need to trigger decoding of the genotype string to pass integration tests
+                vc.getGenotypes();
+
                 if ( writer != null && n == 0 ) {
                     if ( ! wroteHeader ) {
                         writer.writeHeader(VariantContextAdaptors.createVCFHeader(null, vc));
diff --git a/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantRecalibrationWalkersIntegrationTest.java b/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantRecalibrationWalkersIntegrationTest.java
index 3b2bb1584..75278b2a9 100755
--- a/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantRecalibrationWalkersIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantRecalibrationWalkersIntegrationTest.java
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ public class VariantRecalibrationWalkersIntegrationTest extends WalkerTest {
     public void testVariantRecalibrator() {
         HashMap<String, List<String>> e = new HashMap<String, List<String>>();
         e.put( validationDataLocation + "yri.trio.gatk_glftrio.intersection.annotated.filtered.chr1.vcf",
-                Arrays.asList("e7dc06c6d4d8c2cdd03bfdac483aa92b", "038c31c5bb46a4df89b8ee69ec740812","7d42bbdfb69fdfb18cbda13a63d92602")); // Each test checks the md5 of three output files
+                Arrays.asList("9e4509be067284eefc31e91378faba6a", "038c31c5bb46a4df89b8ee69ec740812","7d42bbdfb69fdfb18cbda13a63d92602")); // Each test checks the md5 of three output files
         e.put( validationDataLocation + "lowpass.N3.chr1.raw.vcf",
                 Arrays.asList("80243bd6731f6b0341fa1762c095a72e", "661360e85392af9c97e386399871854a","371e5a70a4006420737c5ab259e0e23e")); // Each test checks the md5 of three output files
 
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ public class VariantRecalibrationWalkersIntegrationTest extends WalkerTest {
     @Test
     public void testApplyVariantCuts() {
         HashMap<String, String> e = new HashMap<String, String>();
-        e.put( validationDataLocation + "yri.trio.gatk_glftrio.intersection.annotated.filtered.chr1.vcf", "ee22087a813aadf7d9426cab5a6a2164" );
+        e.put( validationDataLocation + "yri.trio.gatk_glftrio.intersection.annotated.filtered.chr1.vcf", "5fc641e291ad7330985ad94d4a347511" );
         e.put( validationDataLocation + "lowpass.N3.chr1.raw.vcf", "d9e00e6fe8269b3218880d2c084804c6" );
 
         for ( Map.Entry<String, String> entry : e.entrySet() ) {