diff --git a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VariantBase.java b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VariantBase.java
index 6519d4a9d13d4e25fb9a64b8f4c95d2ef1c5ab48..fae106f30ef7672f2c286c1e295e599a7554c710 100644
--- a/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VariantBase.java
+++ b/uk/ac/sanger/artemis/components/variant/VariantBase.java
@@ -81,7 +81,8 @@ public class VariantBase
 
   protected int getNumAlleles()
   {
-    return COMMA_PATTERN.split(alt).length + 1;
+    return VCFRecord.countOccurrences(alt, ',')+2;
+    //return COMMA_PATTERN.split(alt).length + 1;
     //return alt.split(",").length + 1;
   }