diff --git a/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/SamPairUtil.java b/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/SamPairUtil.java
index 525684c28d..675105591f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/SamPairUtil.java
+++ b/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/SamPairUtil.java
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ public class SamPairUtil {
      * FR means the read that's mapped to the forward strand comes before the
      * read mapped to the reverse strand when their 5'-end coordinates are
      * compared.
+     *
+     * PairOrientation only makes sense for a pair of reads that are both mapped to the same contig/chromosome
      */
     public static enum PairOrientation
     {
@@ -57,31 +59,41 @@ public static enum PairOrientation
 
     /**
      * Computes the pair orientation of the given SAMRecord.
-     * @param r
+     * @param record the record for which the pair orientation is requested
      * @return PairOrientation of the given SAMRecord.
      * @throws IllegalArgumentException If the record is not a paired read, or
-     * one or both reads are unmapped.
+     * one or both reads are unmapped, or is the two records do are not mapped to the
+     * same reference.
+     *
+     * NOTA BENE: This is NOT the orientation byte as used in Picard's MarkDuplicates. For that please look
+     * in ReadEnds (in Picard).
      */
-    public static PairOrientation getPairOrientation(final SAMRecord r)
+    public static PairOrientation getPairOrientation(final SAMRecord record)
     {
-        final boolean readIsOnReverseStrand = r.getReadNegativeStrandFlag();
+        final boolean readIsOnReverseStrand = record.getReadNegativeStrandFlag();
 
-        if(r.getReadUnmappedFlag() || !r.getReadPairedFlag() || r.getMateUnmappedFlag()) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid SAMRecord: " + r.getReadName() + ". This method only works for SAMRecords " +
+        if(record.getReadUnmappedFlag() || !record.getReadPairedFlag() || record.getMateUnmappedFlag()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid SAMRecord: " + record.getReadName() + ". This method only works for SAMRecords " +
                     "that are paired reads with both reads aligned.");
         }
 
-        if(readIsOnReverseStrand == r.getMateNegativeStrandFlag() )  {
+        if (!record.getReferenceIndex().equals(record.getMateReferenceIndex())) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid SAMRecord: " + record.getReadName() + ". This method only works for SAMRecords " +
+                    "that are paired reads with both reads aligned to the same reference. Found difference references:" +
+                    record.getReferenceName() + " and " + record.getMateReferenceName() + ".");
+        }
+
+        if(readIsOnReverseStrand == record.getMateNegativeStrandFlag() )  {
             return PairOrientation.TANDEM;
         }
 
         final long positiveStrandFivePrimePos = ( readIsOnReverseStrand
-                ?  r.getMateAlignmentStart()  //mate's 5' position  ( x---> )
-                :  r.getAlignmentStart() );   //read's 5' position  ( x---> )
+                ?  record.getMateAlignmentStart()  //mate's 5' position  ( x---> )
+                :  record.getAlignmentStart() );   //read's 5' position  ( x---> )
 
         final long negativeStrandFivePrimePos = ( readIsOnReverseStrand
-                ?  r.getAlignmentEnd()                                   //read's 5' position  ( <---x )
-                :  r.getAlignmentStart() + r.getInferredInsertSize() );  //mate's 5' position  ( <---x )
+                ?  record.getAlignmentEnd()                                   //read's 5' position  ( <---x )
+                :  record.getAlignmentStart() + record.getInferredInsertSize() );  //mate's 5' position  ( <---x )
 
         return ( positiveStrandFivePrimePos < negativeStrandFivePrimePos
                 ? PairOrientation.FR
diff --git a/src/test/java/htsjdk/samtools/SamPairUtilTest.java b/src/test/java/htsjdk/samtools/SamPairUtilTest.java
index f5c288a544..0d5ae5a8af 100644
--- a/src/test/java/htsjdk/samtools/SamPairUtilTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/htsjdk/samtools/SamPairUtilTest.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 
 
@@ -49,6 +50,12 @@ public void testGetPairOrientation(final String testName,
         Assert.assertEquals(SamPairUtil.getPairOrientation(rec2), expectedOrientation, testName + " second end");
     }
 
+    @Test(dataProvider = "testGetPairOrientationFail", expectedExceptions = IllegalArgumentException.class)
+    public void testGetPairOrientationFail(final SAMRecord record) {
+        SamPairUtil.getPairOrientation(record);
+    }
+
+
     @Test(dataProvider = "testSetMateInfoMateCigar")
     public void testSetMateInfoMateCigar(final String testName,
                                          final int read1Start, final boolean read1Reverse, final String read1Cigar,
@@ -203,6 +210,54 @@ public Object[][] testGetPairOrientationDataProvider() {
         };
     }
 
+    @DataProvider(name = "testGetPairOrientationFail")
+    public Iterator<Object[]> testGetPairOrientationFailDataProvider() {
+        /**
+         * @param testName
+         * @param read1Start
+         * @param read1Length
+         * @param read1Reverse
+         * @param read2Start
+         * @param read2Length
+         * @param read2Reverse
+         */
+
+        List<Object[]> tests=new ArrayList<>();
+        final SAMFileHeader header = new SAMFileHeader();
+        header.addSequence(new SAMSequenceRecord("chr1", 100000000));
+        header.addSequence(new SAMSequenceRecord("chr2", 100000000));
+        {
+            final SAMRecord rec = makeSamRecord(header, 50, 50, false, true);
+            rec.setReadName("Unpaired");
+            rec.setReadPairedFlag(false);
+            tests.add(new Object[]{rec});
+        }
+        {
+            final SAMRecord rec = makeSamRecord(header, 50, 50, false, true);
+            rec.setReadName("Unmapped");
+            rec.setReadPairedFlag(true);
+            rec.setReadUnmappedFlag(true);
+            tests.add(new Object[]{rec});
+        }
+        {
+            final SAMRecord rec = makeSamRecord(header, 50, 50, false, true);
+            rec.setReadName("Unmapped mate");
+            rec.setReadPairedFlag(true);
+            rec.setReferenceIndex(0);
+            rec.setMateUnmappedFlag(true);
+            tests.add(new Object[]{rec});
+        }
+        {
+            final SAMRecord rec = makeSamRecord(header, 50, 50, false, true);
+            rec.setReadName("mate on difference reference");
+            rec.setReadPairedFlag(true);
+            rec.setReferenceIndex(0);
+            rec.setMateReferenceIndex(1);
+            tests.add(new Object[]{rec});
+        }
+        return tests.iterator();
+    }
+
     @DataProvider(name = "testSetMateInfoMateCigar")
     public Object[][] testSetMateInfoMateCigarDataProvider() {
         /**