H2
diff --git a/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/KmerBytesWritable.java b/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/KmerBytesWritable.java
index 8b9f9bd..0171865 100644
--- a/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/KmerBytesWritable.java
+++ b/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/KmerBytesWritable.java
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@
         int pos = ((kmerlength - 1) % 4) << 1;
         byte code = (byte) (c << pos);
         bytes[0] = (byte) (((bytes[0] >>> 2) & 0x3f) | code);
-        return (byte) (1 << output);
+        return (byte) output;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@
             bytes[0] &= (1 << ((kmerlength % 4) << 1)) - 1;
         }
         bytes[size - 1] = (byte) ((bytes[size - 1] << 2) | c);
-        return (byte) (1 << output);
+        return (byte) output;
     }
 
     public void set(KmerBytesWritable newData) {