diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedArgumentCollection.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedArgumentCollection.java
index 020f7904d..69f1176cc 100755
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedArgumentCollection.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedArgumentCollection.java
@@ -114,11 +114,11 @@ public class UnifiedArgumentCollection {
      * that you not play around with this parameter.
      */
     @Advanced
-    @Argument(fullName = "max_alternate_alleles", shortName = "maxAlleles", doc = "Maximum number of alternate alleles to genotype", required = false)
+    @Argument(fullName = "max_alternate_alleles", shortName = "maxAltAlleles", doc = "Maximum number of alternate alleles to genotype", required = false)
     public int MAX_ALTERNATE_ALLELES = 3;
 
     @Hidden
-    @Argument(fullName = "cap_max_alternate_alleles_for_indels", shortName = "capMaxAllelesForIndels", doc = "Cap the maximum number of alternate alleles to genotype for indel calls at 2; overrides the --max_alternate_alleles argument; GSA production use only", required = false)
+    @Argument(fullName = "cap_max_alternate_alleles_for_indels", shortName = "capMaxAltAllelesForIndels", doc = "Cap the maximum number of alternate alleles to genotype for indel calls at 2; overrides the --max_alternate_alleles argument; GSA production use only", required = false)
     public boolean CAP_MAX_ALTERNATE_ALLELES_FOR_INDELS = false;
 
     // indel-related arguments
diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/vcf/AbstractVCFCodec.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/vcf/AbstractVCFCodec.java
index 996cef8a4..043e5e185 100755
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/vcf/AbstractVCFCodec.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/vcf/AbstractVCFCodec.java
@@ -237,7 +237,12 @@ public abstract class AbstractVCFCodec extends AsciiFeatureCodec<VariantContext>
         // parse out the required fields
         final String chr = getCachedString(parts[0]);
         builder.chr(chr);
-        int pos = Integer.valueOf(parts[1]);
+        int pos = -1;
+        try {
+            pos = Integer.valueOf(parts[1]);
+        } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+            generateException(parts[1] + " is not a valid start position in the VCF format");
+        }
         builder.start(pos);
 
         if ( parts[2].length() == 0 )