diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/recalibration/PairedReadOrderCovariate.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/recalibration/PairedReadOrderCovariate.java
index 798f91399..9d04be16e 100644
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/recalibration/PairedReadOrderCovariate.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/recalibration/PairedReadOrderCovariate.java
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ public class PairedReadOrderCovariate implements ExperimentalCovariate{
     }
 
     public final Comparable getValue( final String str ) {
-        return str.hashCode();
+        return str;
     }
 
     // Used to estimate the amount space required for the full data HashMap