diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/VirtualBufferCache.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/VirtualBufferCache.java
index 18c87a1..bd3b278 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/VirtualBufferCache.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/VirtualBufferCache.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
     private final CacheBucket[] buckets;
     private final ArrayList<VirtualPage> pages;
 
-    private int nextFree;
+    private volatile int nextFree;
 
     private boolean open;