diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2Decoder.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2Decoder.java
index a13be21c5..2619a4dae 100644
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2Decoder.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2Decoder.java
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ public final class BCF2Decoder {
                 return null;
             else {
                 final String s = new String(bytes, 0, goodLength);
-                return BCF2Utils.isCollapsedString(s) ? BCF2Utils.exploreStringList(s) : s;
+                return BCF2Utils.isCollapsedString(s) ? BCF2Utils.explodeStringList(s) : s;
             }
         } catch ( IOException e ) {
             throw new ReviewedStingException("readByte failure", e);
diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2Utils.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2Utils.java
index 43e933948..1beacd070 100644
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2Utils.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2Utils.java
@@ -79,23 +79,19 @@ public final class BCF2Utils {
         final Set<String> seen = new HashSet<String>();
         final ArrayList<String> dict = new ArrayList<String>();
 
-        boolean sawPASS = false;
+        dict.add(VCFConstants.PASSES_FILTERS_v4); // special case the special PASS field
+
         // set up the strings dictionary
         for ( VCFHeaderLine line : header.getMetaDataInInputOrder() ) {
             if ( line instanceof VCFIDHeaderLine && ! (line instanceof VCFContigHeaderLine) ) {
                 final VCFIDHeaderLine idLine = (VCFIDHeaderLine)line;
                 if ( ! seen.contains(idLine.getID())) {
-                    sawPASS = sawPASS || idLine.getID().equals(VCFConstants.PASSES_FILTERS_v4);
                     dict.add(idLine.getID());
                     seen.add(idLine.getID());
                 }
             }
         }
 
-
-        if ( ! sawPASS )
-            dict.add(VCFConstants.PASSES_FILTERS_v4); // special case the special PASS field
-
         return dict;
     }
 
@@ -177,7 +173,7 @@ public final class BCF2Utils {
      */
     @Requires({"collapsed != null", "isCollapsedString(collapsed)"})
     @Ensures("result != null")
-    public static final List<String> exploreStringList(final String collapsed) {
+    public static final List<String> explodeStringList(final String collapsed) {
         assert isCollapsedString(collapsed);
         final String[] exploded = collapsed.substring(1).split(",");
         return Arrays.asList(exploded);
diff --git a/public/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2EncoderDecoderUnitTest.java b/public/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2EncoderDecoderUnitTest.java
index a0feef186..7569ce90d 100644
--- a/public/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2EncoderDecoderUnitTest.java
+++ b/public/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/bcf2/BCF2EncoderDecoderUnitTest.java
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ public class BCF2EncoderDecoderUnitTest extends BaseTest {
     public void testEncodingListOfString(List<String> strings, String expected) throws IOException {
         final String collapsed = BCF2Utils.collapseStringList(strings);
         Assert.assertEquals(collapsed, expected);
-        Assert.assertEquals(BCF2Utils.exploreStringList(collapsed), strings);
+        Assert.assertEquals(BCF2Utils.explodeStringList(collapsed), strings);
     }
 
     // -----------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/public/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/vcf/VCFIntegrationTest.java b/public/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/vcf/VCFIntegrationTest.java
index 3948ba971..86c8c968d 100644
--- a/public/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/vcf/VCFIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/public/java/test/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/codecs/vcf/VCFIntegrationTest.java
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public class VCFIntegrationTest extends WalkerTest {
         String testVCF = privateTestDir + "ex2.vcf";
         String baseCommand = "-R " + b36KGReference + " --no_cmdline_in_header -o %s ";
         String test1 = baseCommand + "-T SelectVariants -V " + testVCF;
-        WalkerTestSpec spec1 = new WalkerTestSpec(test1, 1, Arrays.asList("a04a0fc22fedb516c663e56e51fc1e27"));
+        WalkerTestSpec spec1 = new WalkerTestSpec(test1, 1, Arrays.asList("e8f721ce81e4fdadba13c5291027057f"));
         executeTest("Test writing samtools WEx BCF example", spec1);
     }