diff --git a/encodings/fastlanes/src/bitpacking/compress.rs b/encodings/fastlanes/src/bitpacking/compress.rs
index 6ce8efae5a..853610dd69 100644
--- a/encodings/fastlanes/src/bitpacking/compress.rs
+++ b/encodings/fastlanes/src/bitpacking/compress.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ pub fn bitpack_encode(array: PrimitiveArray, bit_width: u8) -> VortexResult<BitP
     // Check array contains no negative values.
     if array.ptype().is_signed_int() {
         let has_negative_values = match_each_integer_ptype!(array.ptype(), |$P| {
-            array.statistics().compute_min::<$P>().unwrap_or_default() < 0
+            array.statistics().compute_min::<Option<$P>>().unwrap_or_default().unwrap_or_default() < 0
         });
         if has_negative_values {
             vortex_bail!("cannot bitpack_encode array containing negative integers")
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/stats/mod.rs b/vortex-array/src/stats/mod.rs
index 704caf6274..dc9a11a7a1 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/stats/mod.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/stats/mod.rs
@@ -164,7 +164,10 @@ pub trait Statistics {
     /// Clear the value of the statistic
     fn clear(&self, stat: Stat);
 
-    /// Computes the value of the stat if it's not present
+    /// Computes the value of the stat if it's not present.
+    ///
+    /// Returns the scalar if compute succeeded, or `None` if the stat is not supported
+    /// for this array.
     fn compute(&self, stat: Stat) -> Option<Scalar>;
 
     /// Compute all the requested statistics (if not already present)
@@ -244,6 +247,9 @@ impl dyn Statistics + '_ {
             })
     }
 
+    /// Get or calculate the provided stat, converting the `Scalar` into a typed value.
+    ///
+    /// This function will panic if the conversion fails.
     pub fn compute_as<U: for<'a> TryFrom<&'a Scalar, Error = VortexError>>(
         &self,
         stat: Stat,
@@ -275,10 +281,16 @@ impl dyn Statistics + '_ {
             })
     }
 
+    /// Get or calculate the minimum value in the array, returning as a typed value.
+    ///
+    /// This function will panic if the conversion fails.
     pub fn compute_min<U: for<'a> TryFrom<&'a Scalar, Error = VortexError>>(&self) -> Option<U> {
         self.compute_as(Stat::Min)
     }
 
+    /// Get or calculate the maximum value in the array, returning as a typed value.
+    ///
+    /// This function will panic if the conversion fails.
     pub fn compute_max<U: for<'a> TryFrom<&'a Scalar, Error = VortexError>>(&self) -> Option<U> {
         self.compute_as(Stat::Max)
     }
diff --git a/vortex-sampling-compressor/src/compressors/bitpacked.rs b/vortex-sampling-compressor/src/compressors/bitpacked.rs
index 53bafdf80f..94f00e9a90 100644
--- a/vortex-sampling-compressor/src/compressors/bitpacked.rs
+++ b/vortex-sampling-compressor/src/compressors/bitpacked.rs
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ impl EncodingCompressor for BitPackedCompressor {
         // Only arrays with non-negative values can be bit-packed
         if !parray.ptype().is_unsigned_int() {
             let has_negative_elements = match_each_integer_ptype!(parray.ptype(), |$P| {
-                parray.statistics().compute_min::<$P>().unwrap_or_default() < 0
+                parray.statistics().compute_min::<Option<$P>>().unwrap_or_default().unwrap_or_default() < 0
             });
 
             if has_negative_elements {
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ impl EncodingCompressor for BitPackedCompressor {
         // Only arrays with non-negative values can be bit-packed
         if !parray.ptype().is_unsigned_int() {
             let has_negative_elements = match_each_integer_ptype!(parray.ptype(), |$P| {
-                parray.statistics().compute_min::<$P>().unwrap_or_default() < 0
+                parray.statistics().compute_min::<Option<$P>>().unwrap_or_default().unwrap_or_default() < 0
             });
 
             if has_negative_elements {