diff --git a/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/PerformanceEvaluation.java b/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/PerformanceEvaluation.java
index 5fca2e84b12..56e93715e72 100644
--- a/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/PerformanceEvaluation.java
+++ b/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/PerformanceEvaluation.java
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ public class PerformanceEvaluation implements HConstants {
   static byte [] format(final int number) {
     byte [] b = new byte[10];
     int d = Math.abs(number);
-    for (int i = b.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
+    for (int i = b.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
       b[i] = (byte)((d % 10) + '0');
       d /= 10;
     }