diff --git a/public/gatk-framework/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/refdata/tracks/IndexDictionaryUtils.java b/public/gatk-framework/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/refdata/tracks/IndexDictionaryUtils.java
index e0b5dd4cb..fbbaa6636 100644
--- a/public/gatk-framework/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/refdata/tracks/IndexDictionaryUtils.java
+++ b/public/gatk-framework/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/refdata/tracks/IndexDictionaryUtils.java
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public class IndexDictionaryUtils {
                                                        final ValidationExclusion.TYPE validationExclusionType ) {
         // if the sequence dictionary is empty (as well as null which means it doesn't have a dictionary), skip validation
         if (trackDict == null || trackDict.size() == 0)
-            logger.info("Track " + trackName + " doesn't have a sequence dictionary built in, skipping dictionary validation");
+            logger.warn("Track " + trackName + " doesn't have a sequence dictionary built in, skipping dictionary validation");
         else {
             Set<String> trackSequences = new TreeSet<String>();
             for (SAMSequenceRecord dictionaryEntry : trackDict.getSequences())
diff --git a/public/gatk-framework/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/refdata/tracks/RMDTrackBuilder.java b/public/gatk-framework/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/refdata/tracks/RMDTrackBuilder.java
index 3433b5342..a587a3984 100644
--- a/public/gatk-framework/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/refdata/tracks/RMDTrackBuilder.java
+++ b/public/gatk-framework/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/refdata/tracks/RMDTrackBuilder.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import org.broad.tribble.TribbleException;
 import org.broad.tribble.index.Index;
 import org.broad.tribble.index.IndexFactory;
 import org.broad.tribble.util.LittleEndianOutputStream;
+import org.broad.tribble.util.TabixUtils;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.commandline.Tags;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.GenomeAnalysisEngine;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.arguments.ValidationExclusion;
@@ -171,7 +172,9 @@ public class RMDTrackBuilder { // extends PluginManager<FeatureCodec> {
         // we might not know the index type, try loading with the default reader constructor
         logger.debug("Attempting to load " + inputFile + " as a tabix indexed file without validating it");
         try {
-            return new Pair<AbstractFeatureReader, SAMSequenceDictionary>(AbstractFeatureReader.getFeatureReader(inputFile.getAbsolutePath(), createCodec(descriptor, name)),null);
+            final File indexFile = new File(inputFile.getAbsoluteFile() + TabixUtils.STANDARD_INDEX_EXTENSION);
+            final SAMSequenceDictionary dict = TabixUtils.getSequenceDictionary(indexFile);
+            return new Pair<>(AbstractFeatureReader.getFeatureReader(inputFile.getAbsolutePath(), createCodec(descriptor, name)), dict);
         } catch (TribbleException e) {
             throw new UserException(e.getMessage(), e);
         }