diff --git a/nbr/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/scenarios/simframe/stabilization/StatBucket.java b/nbr/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/scenarios/simframe/stabilization/StatBucket.java
index ffb98c5a2..3c489cd45 100644
--- a/nbr/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/scenarios/simframe/stabilization/StatBucket.java
+++ b/nbr/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/scenarios/simframe/stabilization/StatBucket.java
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@ public final class StatBucket {
     }
 
     public double variance() {
-        return dSquared / ringbuf.count();
+        double variance = dSquared / ringbuf.count();
+        return (variance < 0) ? Math.abs(variance) : variance;
     }
 
     public double stddev() {