diff --git a/DQM/HcalTasks/plugins/TPTask.cc b/DQM/HcalTasks/plugins/TPTask.cc
index e52d4330d640c..e85451a593419 100644
--- a/DQM/HcalTasks/plugins/TPTask.cc
+++ b/DQM/HcalTasks/plugins/TPTask.cc
@@ -1130,7 +1130,9 @@ TPTask::TPTask(edm::ParameterSet const& ps)
       HcalElectronicsId const& eid(rawid);
 
       const bool HetAgreement = sentTp.SOI_compressedEt() == recdTp.SOI_compressedEt();
-      const bool Hfb1Agreement = sentTp.SOI_fineGrain() == recdTp.SOI_fineGrain();
+      const bool Hfb1Agreement =
+          (abs(ieta) < 29) ? true
+                           : (recdTp.SOI_compressedEt() == 0 || (sentTp.SOI_fineGrain() == recdTp.SOI_fineGrain()));
       // Ignore minBias (FB2) bit if we receieve 0 ET, which means it is likely zero-suppressed on HCal readout side
       const bool Hfb2Agreement =
           (abs(ieta) < 29) ? true