--- gforth/prim	2009/01/29 19:51:28	1.239
+++ gforth/prim	2009/05/12 16:54:58	1.242
@@ -2150,6 +2150,7 @@ int flag;
 int decpt;
 sig=ecvt(r, u, &decpt, &flag);
 n=(r==0. ? 1 : decpt);
+flag=signbit(r); /* not all ecvt()s do this as desired */
 f1=FLAG(flag!=0);
 f2=FLAG(isdigit((unsigned)(sig[0]))!=0);
 siglen=strlen((char *)sig);