diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantutils/SelectVariants.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantutils/SelectVariants.java
index 9de8769f3..a15173725 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantutils/SelectVariants.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantutils/SelectVariants.java
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ public class SelectVariants extends RodWalker<Integer, Integer> {
                 else if (g.isHomVar()) { alleleCount += 2; }
                 
                 String dp = (String) g.getAttribute("DP");
-                if (dp != null) {
+                if (dp != null && ! dp.equals(".")) {
                     depth += Integer.valueOf(dp);
                 }
             }