diff --git a/protected/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/annotator/StrandBiasBySample.java b/protected/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/annotator/StrandBiasBySample.java
index fde344e9f..4b1e48a36 100644
--- a/protected/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/annotator/StrandBiasBySample.java
+++ b/protected/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/annotator/StrandBiasBySample.java
@@ -80,12 +80,9 @@ public class StrandBiasBySample extends GenotypeAnnotation implements Experiment
                          final Genotype g,
                          final GenotypeBuilder gb,
                          final PerReadAlleleLikelihoodMap alleleLikelihoodMap) {
-        if ( g == null || !g.isCalled() || ( stratifiedContext == null && alleleLikelihoodMap == null) )
+        if ( ! isAppropriateInput(alleleLikelihoodMap, g) )
             return;
 
-        if (alleleLikelihoodMap == null )
-            throw new IllegalStateException("StrandBiasBySample can only be used with likelihood based annotations in the HaplotypeCaller");
-
         final int[][] table = FisherStrand.getContingencyTable(Collections.singletonMap(g.getSampleName(), alleleLikelihoodMap), vc);
 
         gb.attribute(STRAND_BIAS_BY_SAMPLE_KEY_NAME, FisherStrand.getContingencyArray(table));
@@ -97,4 +94,7 @@ public class StrandBiasBySample extends GenotypeAnnotation implements Experiment
     @Override
     public List<VCFFormatHeaderLine> getDescriptions() { return Collections.singletonList(new VCFFormatHeaderLine(getKeyNames().get(0), 4, VCFHeaderLineType.Integer, "Per-sample component statistics which comprise the Fisher's Exact Test to detect strand bias.")); }
 
+    private boolean isAppropriateInput(final PerReadAlleleLikelihoodMap map, final Genotype g) {
+        return ! (map == null || g == null || !g.isCalled());
+    }
 }