diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/context/GlobalVirtualBufferCache.java b/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/context/GlobalVirtualBufferCache.java
index 0bb9bd5..a7210bc 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/context/GlobalVirtualBufferCache.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/context/GlobalVirtualBufferCache.java
@@ -273,6 +273,11 @@
         return page;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage, boolean incrementStats) throws HyracksDataException {
+        return pin(dpid, newPage);
+    }
+
     private void incrementFilteredMemoryComponentUsage(long dpid, int pages) {
         if (filteredMemoryComponentMaxNumPages > 0) {
             // update memory usage of filtered index
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/MultitenantVirtualBufferCache.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/MultitenantVirtualBufferCache.java
index e77acea..959bb50 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/MultitenantVirtualBufferCache.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/MultitenantVirtualBufferCache.java
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@
     }
 
     @Override
+    public ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage, boolean incrementStats) throws HyracksDataException {
+        return vbc.pin(dpid, newPage);
+    }
+
+    @Override
     public void unpin(ICachedPage page) throws HyracksDataException {
         vbc.unpin(page);
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/VirtualBufferCache.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/VirtualBufferCache.java
index 5871b31..e222461 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/VirtualBufferCache.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/VirtualBufferCache.java
@@ -260,6 +260,11 @@
         return page;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage, boolean incrementStats) throws HyracksDataException {
+        return pin(dpid, newPage);
+    }
+
     private int hash(long dpid) {
         int hashValue = (int) dpid ^ (Integer.reverse((int) (dpid >>> 32)) >>> 1);
         return hashValue % buckets.length;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/BufferCache.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/BufferCache.java
index 70500e5..e0999d4 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/BufferCache.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/BufferCache.java
@@ -166,13 +166,18 @@
 
     @Override
     public ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage) throws HyracksDataException {
+        return pin(dpid, newPage, true);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage, boolean incrementStats) throws HyracksDataException {
         // Calling the pinSanityCheck should be used only for debugging, since
         // the synchronized block over the fileInfoMap is a hot spot.
         if (DEBUG) {
             pinSanityCheck(dpid);
         }
         final IThreadStats threadStats = statsSubscribers.get(Thread.currentThread());
-        if (threadStats != null) {
+        if (threadStats != null && incrementStats) {
             threadStats.pagePinned();
         }
         CachedPage cPage = findPage(dpid);
@@ -194,7 +199,7 @@
             synchronized (cPage) {
                 if (!cPage.valid) {
                     try {
-                        tryRead(cPage);
+                        tryRead(cPage, incrementStats);
                         cPage.valid = true;
                     } catch (Exception e) {
                         LOGGER.log(ExceptionUtils.causedByInterrupt(e) ? Level.DEBUG : Level.WARN,
@@ -521,10 +526,10 @@
         return false;
     }
 
-    private void tryRead(CachedPage cPage) throws HyracksDataException {
+    private void tryRead(CachedPage cPage, boolean incrementStats) throws HyracksDataException {
         for (int i = 1; i <= MAX_PAGE_READ_ATTEMPTS; i++) {
             try {
-                read(cPage);
+                read(cPage, incrementStats);
                 return;
             } catch (HyracksDataException readException) {
                 if (readException.matches(ErrorCode.CANNOT_READ_CLOSED_FILE) && i != MAX_PAGE_READ_ATTEMPTS) {
@@ -548,12 +553,12 @@
         }
     }
 
-    private void read(CachedPage cPage) throws HyracksDataException {
+    private void read(CachedPage cPage, boolean incrementStats) throws HyracksDataException {
         BufferedFileHandle fInfo = getFileHandle(cPage);
         cPage.buffer.clear();
         fInfo.read(cPage);
         final IThreadStats threadStats = statsSubscribers.get(Thread.currentThread());
-        if (threadStats != null) {
+        if (threadStats != null && incrementStats) {
             threadStats.coldRead();
         }
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/DebugBufferCache.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/DebugBufferCache.java
index 8c3d492..c76c781 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/DebugBufferCache.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/DebugBufferCache.java
@@ -77,13 +77,18 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage) throws HyracksDataException {
-        ICachedPage page = bufferCache.pin(dpid, newPage);
+    public ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage, boolean incrementStats) throws HyracksDataException {
+        ICachedPage page = bufferCache.pin(dpid, newPage, incrementStats);
         pinCount.addAndGet(1);
         return page;
     }
 
     @Override
+    public ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage) throws HyracksDataException {
+        return pin(dpid, newPage, true);
+    }
+
+    @Override
     public void unpin(ICachedPage page) throws HyracksDataException {
         bufferCache.unpin(page);
         unpinCount.addAndGet(1);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/IBufferCache.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/IBufferCache.java
index df0bea8..3e977bd 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/IBufferCache.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/buffercache/IBufferCache.java
@@ -105,6 +105,28 @@
     ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage) throws HyracksDataException;
 
     /**
+     * Pin the page so it can't be evicted from the buffer cache...
+     *
+     * @param dpid
+     *            page id is a unique id that is a combination of file id and page id
+     * @param newPage
+     *            whether this page is expected to be new.
+     *            NOTE: undefined:
+     *            -- what if the flag is true but the page exists?
+     *            -- what if the flag is false but the page doesn't exist
+     *
+     * @param incrementStats
+     *            whether to increment the coldRead and pinCount counters when
+     *            the page is pinned. this is to not bias the count when using
+     *            accessors that cause nested pins due to wrapping file handles,
+     *            like compression
+     *
+     * @return the pinned page
+     * @throws HyracksDataException
+     */
+    ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage, boolean incrementStats) throws HyracksDataException;
+
+    /**
      * Unpin a pinned page so its buffer can be recycled
      *
      * @param page
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/compression/file/CompressedFileManager.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/compression/file/CompressedFileManager.java
index 7d0cc62..b334b1f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/compression/file/CompressedFileManager.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/common/compression/file/CompressedFileManager.java
@@ -311,7 +311,9 @@
         final int numOfEntriesPerPage = bufferCache.getPageSize() / ENTRY_LENGTH;
         //get the last page which may contain less entries than maxNumOfEntries
         final long dpid = getDiskPageId(numOfPages - 1);
-        final ICachedPage page = bufferCache.pin(dpid, false);
+        //exclude the LAF from the buffer cache pin/read stats, because it is hot in any
+        //sane scenario. otherwise it inflates the query's cache ratio greatly. 
+        final ICachedPage page = bufferCache.pin(dpid, false, false);
         try {
             final ByteBuffer buf = page.getBuffer();
 
@@ -330,7 +332,10 @@
 
     private ICachedPage pinAndGetPage(int compressedPageId) throws HyracksDataException {
         final int pageId = compressedPageId * ENTRY_LENGTH / bufferCache.getPageSize();
-        return bufferCache.pin(getDiskPageId(pageId), false);
+        //don't increment the stats with this pin. this is because we are pinning on behalf
+        //of a caller, so our pins will be an interfering access pattern that conflates itself
+        //with the caller's cache pattern.
+        return bufferCache.pin(getDiskPageId(pageId), false, false);
     }
 
     private long getDiskPageId(int pageId) {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestVirtualBufferCache.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestVirtualBufferCache.java
index 8cad497..e697b54 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestVirtualBufferCache.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestVirtualBufferCache.java
@@ -101,6 +101,11 @@
     }
 
     @Override
+    public ICachedPage pin(long dpid, boolean newPage, boolean incrementStats) throws HyracksDataException {
+        return pin(dpid, newPage);
+    }
+
+    @Override
     public void unpin(ICachedPage page) throws HyracksDataException {
         vbc.unpin(page);
     }