diff --git a/sorter.rb b/sorter.rb
index 0ca54f1..d5b3ceb 100755
--- a/sorter.rb
+++ b/sorter.rb
@@ -161,7 +161,8 @@ def process_file (file_name, binfile, type)
         output[key] = Hash.new
         output[key][:words] = bin_counter(bins[bin_number], text)
         output[key][:total] = count_total(output[key])
-        output[key][:frequency] = output[key][:total].to_f / output[:total_words].to_f
+        output[key][:frequency] = 0
+        output[key][:frequency] = output[key][:total].to_f / output[:total_words].to_f if output[:total_words] != 0
       end
       write_output_json(output,outfile + '-out.json')
       write_output_csv(output,outfile + '-out.csv')