diff --git a/src/hyperloglog.c b/src/hyperloglog.c
index beacee887..7dfc34c19 100644
--- a/src/hyperloglog.c
+++ b/src/hyperloglog.c
@@ -823,13 +823,13 @@ double hllSparseSum(uint8_t *sparse, int sparselen, double *PE, int *ezp) {
             runlen = HLL_SPARSE_ZERO_LEN(p);
             idx += runlen;
             ez += runlen;
-            E += 1; /* 2^(-reg[j]) is 1 when m is 0. */
+            E += 1*runlen; /* 2^(-reg[j]) is 1 when m is 0. */
             p++;
         } else if (HLL_SPARSE_IS_XZERO(p)) {
             runlen = HLL_SPARSE_XZERO_LEN(p);
             idx += runlen;
             ez += runlen;
-            E += 1; /* 2^(-reg[j]) is 1 when m is 0. */
+            E += 1*runlen; /* 2^(-reg[j]) is 1 when m is 0. */
             p += 2;
         } else {
             runlen = HLL_SPARSE_VAL_LEN(p);