diff --git a/dumux/common/boundingboxtree.hh b/dumux/common/boundingboxtree.hh
index 5a55febf9a782fc35e0411ba608ac32eb3a559c8..777f644e6809f38ba4c2663bc2baee4496dae844 100644
--- a/dumux/common/boundingboxtree.hh
+++ b/dumux/common/boundingboxtree.hh
@@ -539,7 +539,8 @@ public:
         const double n = crossProduct(v1, v2);
 
         // early return if the cross product is larger than zero
-        if (n > v1norm*eps_)
+        using std::abs;
+        if (abs(n) > v1norm*eps_)
             return false;
 
         // we know the points are aligned