diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/IFile.java b/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/IFile.java
index 57e74df8..c53266dd 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/IFile.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/mapred/IFile.java
@@ -424,7 +424,11 @@ public boolean nextRawKey(DataInputBuffer key) throws IOException {
         return false;
       }
       if (keyBytes.length < currentKeyLength) {
-        keyBytes = new byte[currentKeyLength << 1];
+        if (currentKeyLength << 1 < 0) {
+           keyBytes = new byte[Integer.MAX_VALUE];
+        } else {
+           keyBytes = new byte[currentKeyLength << 1];
+        }
       }
       int i = readData(keyBytes, 0, currentKeyLength);
       if (i != currentKeyLength) {