diff --git a/matlab/CutSample.m b/matlab/CutSample.m
index 432196af5cc9aad03946ebe29c8b9e1860499890..593f3b2459ae171efb8553c936b93916d5c8bf95 100644
--- a/matlab/CutSample.m
+++ b/matlab/CutSample.m
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ end
 TotalNumberOfMhFiles = sum(record.MhDraws(:,2));
 TotalNumberOfMhDraws = sum(record.MhDraws(:,1));
 MAX_nruns = ceil(options_.MaxNumberOfBytes/(npar+2)/8)
-FirstDraw = floor(options_.mh_drop*TotalNumberOfMhDraws);
+FirstDraw = max(1,floor(options_.mh_drop*TotalNumberOfMhDraws));
 FirstMhFile = ceil(FirstDraw/MAX_nruns);
 FirstLine = FirstDraw-(FirstMhFile-1)*MAX_nruns+1;
 record.KeepedDraws.FirstMhFile = FirstMhFile;