diff --git a/lib/puppet/parser/functions/min.rb b/lib/puppet/parser/functions/min.rb
index a2ec99f44..712902dc3 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/parser/functions/min.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/parser/functions/min.rb
@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@ module Puppet::Parser::Functions
     # Sometimes we get numbers as numerics and sometimes as strings.
     # We try to compare them as numbers when possible
     return args.min do |a, b|
-      a.to_f <=> b.to_f if a.to_s =~ %r{\A^-?\d+(.\d+)?\z} && b.to_s =~ %r{\A-?\d+(.\d+)?\z}
-      a.to_s <=> b.to_s
+      if a.to_s =~ %r{\A^-?\d+(.\d+)?\z} && b.to_s =~ %r{\A-?\d+(.\d+)?\z}
+        a.to_f <=> b.to_f
+      else
+        a.to_s <=> b.to_s
+      end
     end
   end
 end