diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/SloppyPhraseScorer.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/SloppyPhraseScorer.java
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/SloppyPhraseScorer.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/SloppyPhraseScorer.java
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
                     done = true;          // ran out of a term -- done
                     break;
                 }
-                tpsDiffer = !pp.repeats || (pp = termPositionsDiffer(pp))==null;
+                tpsDiffer = !pp.repeats || termPositionsDiffer(pp)==null;
             }
 
             int matchLength = end - start;
diff --git a/src/test/org/apache/lucene/search/TestSloppyPhraseQuery.java b/src/test/org/apache/lucene/search/TestSloppyPhraseQuery.java
--- a/src/test/org/apache/lucene/search/TestSloppyPhraseQuery.java
+++ b/src/test/org/apache/lucene/search/TestSloppyPhraseQuery.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 
     private static final Document DOC_1 = makeDocument("X " + S_1 + " Y");
     private static final Document DOC_2 = makeDocument("X " + S_2 + " Y");
+    private static final Document DOC_3 = makeDocument("X " + S_1 + " A Y");
 
     private static final PhraseQuery QUERY_1 = makePhraseQuery( S_1 );
     private static final PhraseQuery QUERY_2 = makePhraseQuery( S_2 );
@@ -72,6 +73,16 @@
     public void testDoc2_Query2_All_Slops_Should_match() throws Exception {
       for (int slop=0; slop<30; slop++) {
         checkPhraseQuery(DOC_2, QUERY_2, slop, 1);
+      }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test DOC_3 and QUERY_1.
+     * QUERY_1 has an exact match to DOC_3, so all slop values should succeed.
+     */
+    public void testDoc3_Query1_All_Slops_Should_match() throws Exception {
+      for (int slop=0; slop<30; slop++) {
+        checkPhraseQuery(DOC_3, QUERY_1, slop, 1);
       }
     }