diff --git a/protected/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/filters/VariantFiltrationIntegrationTest.java b/protected/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/filters/VariantFiltrationIntegrationTest.java
index 9de190f5f..6a29ff255 100644
--- a/protected/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/filters/VariantFiltrationIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/protected/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/filters/VariantFiltrationIntegrationTest.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 package org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.filters;
 
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.WalkerTest;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.exceptions.UserException;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 
 import java.util.Arrays;
@@ -106,6 +107,13 @@ public class VariantFiltrationIntegrationTest extends WalkerTest {
         executeTest("test filter sites not in mask", spec3);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testIllegalFilterName() {
+        WalkerTestSpec spec = new WalkerTestSpec(
+                baseTestString() + " -filter 'DoC < 20 || FisherStrand > 20.0' -filterName 'foo < foo' --variant " + privateTestDir + "vcfexample2.vcf -L 1:10,020,000-10,021,000", 1,
+                UserException.class);
+        executeTest("test illegal filter name", spec);
+    }
 
     @Test
     public void testFilter1() {
diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/filters/VariantFiltration.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/filters/VariantFiltration.java
index 362b49f68..83d4d81d0 100644
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/filters/VariantFiltration.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/filters/VariantFiltration.java
@@ -186,18 +186,22 @@ public class VariantFiltration extends RodWalker<Integer, Integer> {
         if ( clusterWindow > 0 )
             hInfo.add(new VCFFilterHeaderLine(CLUSTERED_SNP_FILTER_NAME, "SNPs found in clusters"));
 
-        for ( VariantContextUtils.JexlVCMatchExp exp : filterExps )
-            hInfo.add(new VCFFilterHeaderLine(exp.name, exp.exp.toString()));
-        for ( VariantContextUtils.JexlVCMatchExp exp : genotypeFilterExps )
-            hInfo.add(new VCFFilterHeaderLine(exp.name, exp.exp.toString()));
-
         if ( genotypeFilterExps.size() > 0 )
             hInfo.add(VCFStandardHeaderLines.getFormatLine(VCFConstants.GENOTYPE_FILTER_KEY));
 
-        if ( mask.isBound() ) {
-            if (filterRecordsNotInMask)
-                hInfo.add(new VCFFilterHeaderLine(MASK_NAME, "Doesn't overlap a user-input mask"));
-            else hInfo.add(new VCFFilterHeaderLine(MASK_NAME, "Overlaps a user-input mask"));
+        try {
+            for ( VariantContextUtils.JexlVCMatchExp exp : filterExps )
+                hInfo.add(new VCFFilterHeaderLine(exp.name, exp.exp.toString()));
+            for ( VariantContextUtils.JexlVCMatchExp exp : genotypeFilterExps )
+                hInfo.add(new VCFFilterHeaderLine(exp.name, exp.exp.toString()));
+
+            if ( mask.isBound() ) {
+                if (filterRecordsNotInMask)
+                    hInfo.add(new VCFFilterHeaderLine(MASK_NAME, "Doesn't overlap a user-input mask"));
+                else hInfo.add(new VCFFilterHeaderLine(MASK_NAME, "Overlaps a user-input mask"));
+            }
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            throw new UserException.BadInput(e.getMessage());
         }
 
         writer.writeHeader(new VCFHeader(hInfo, SampleUtils.getUniqueSamplesFromRods(getToolkit(), inputNames)));
diff --git a/settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.85.1357.jar b/settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.88.1401.jar
similarity index 94%
rename from settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.85.1357.jar
rename to settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.88.1401.jar
index d341e1cf5..688c6ae17 100644
Binary files a/settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.85.1357.jar and b/settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.88.1401.jar differ
diff --git a/settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.85.1357.xml b/settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.88.1401.xml
similarity index 71%
rename from settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.85.1357.xml
rename to settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.88.1401.xml
index f6d7a2caa..5db78b1e4 100644
--- a/settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.85.1357.xml
+++ b/settings/repository/org.broadinstitute/variant-1.88.1401.xml
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 <ivy-module version="1.0">
-    <info organisation="org.broadinstitute" module="variant" revision="1.85.1357" status="integration" />
+    <info organisation="org.broadinstitute" module="variant" revision="1.88.1401" status="integration" />
 </ivy-module>