diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/pileup/AbstractReadBackedPileup.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/pileup/AbstractReadBackedPileup.java
index e3107c195..bcd220dca 100644
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/pileup/AbstractReadBackedPileup.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/pileup/AbstractReadBackedPileup.java
@@ -696,32 +696,26 @@ public abstract class AbstractReadBackedPileup<RBP extends AbstractReadBackedPil
     @Override
     public Map<String, ReadBackedPileup> getPileupsForSamples(Collection<String> sampleNames) {
         Map<String, ReadBackedPileup> result = new HashMap<String, ReadBackedPileup>();
-        if (pileupElementTracker instanceof PerSamplePileupElementTracker) {
-            PerSamplePileupElementTracker<PE> tracker = (PerSamplePileupElementTracker<PE>) pileupElementTracker;
-            for (String sample : sampleNames) {
-                PileupElementTracker<PE> filteredElements = tracker.getElements(sampleNames);
-                if (filteredElements != null)
-                    result.put(sample, createNewPileup(loc, filteredElements));
-            }
-        } else {
-            Map<String, UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE>> trackerMap = new HashMap<String, UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE>>();
-            
-            for (String sample : sampleNames) {                                                                         // initialize pileups for each sample
-                UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE> filteredTracker = new UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE>();
-                trackerMap.put(sample, filteredTracker);
-            }            
-            for (PE p : pileupElementTracker) {                                                                         // go through all pileup elements only once and add them to the respective sample's pileup
-                GATKSAMRecord read = p.getRead();
-                if (read.getReadGroup() != null) {
-                    String sample = read.getReadGroup().getSample();
-                    UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE> tracker = trackerMap.get(sample);
-                    if (tracker != null)                                                                                // we only add the pileup the requested samples. Completely ignore the rest
-                        tracker.add(p);
-                }
-            }
-            for (Map.Entry<String, UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE>> entry : trackerMap.entrySet())                      // create the RBP for each sample
-                result.put(entry.getKey(), createNewPileup(loc, entry.getValue()));
+        Map<String, UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE>> trackerMap = new HashMap<String, UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE>>();
+
+        for (String sample : sampleNames) {                                                                         // initialize pileups for each sample
+            UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE> filteredTracker = new UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE>();
+            trackerMap.put(sample, filteredTracker);
         }
+
+        for (PE p : pileupElementTracker) {                                                                         // go through all pileup elements only once and add them to the respective sample's pileup
+            GATKSAMRecord read = p.getRead();
+            if (read.getReadGroup() != null) {
+                String sample = read.getReadGroup().getSample();
+                UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE> tracker = trackerMap.get(sample);
+                if (tracker != null)                                                                                // we only add the pileup the requested samples. Completely ignore the rest
+                    tracker.add(p);
+            }
+        }
+
+        for (Map.Entry<String, UnifiedPileupElementTracker<PE>> entry : trackerMap.entrySet())                      // create the RBP for each sample
+            result.put(entry.getKey(), createNewPileup(loc, entry.getValue()));
+
         return result;
     }