diff -ur a/decNumber/decNumber.c b/decNumber/decNumber.c
--- a/decNumber/decNumber.c	2009-12-24 09:41:06.000000000 +0100
+++ b/decNumber/decNumber.c	2011-02-05 17:23:19.000000000 +0100
@@ -5605,8 +5605,8 @@
   decNumber  cmp;                  // work
   decContext aset, bset;           // working contexts
 
-  #if DECCHECK
   Int iterations=0;                // for later sanity check
+  #if DECCHECK
   if (decCheckOperands(res, DECUNUSED, rhs, set)) return res;
   #endif
 
@@ -5735,7 +5735,11 @@
     // 34+2, which is ideal for standard-sized numbers]
     aset.digits=pp;                     // working context
     bset.digits=pp+rhs->digits;         // wider context
+
     for (;;) {                          // iterate
+      if (++iterations > 24) {
+        break;
+      }
       #if DECCHECK
       iterations++;
       if (iterations>24) break;         // consider 9 * 2**24