## PR#14646 library(stats4) minusLogL1 <- function(mu, logsigma2) N*log(2*pi*exp(logsigma2))/2 + N*(var(x)+(mean(x)-mu)^2)/(2*exp(logsigma2)) minusLogL2 <- function(mu) { logsigma2 <- 0; N*log(2*pi*exp(logsigma2))/2 + N*(var(x)+(mean(x)-mu)^2)/(2*exp(logsigma2)) } N <- 100 set.seed(123) x <- rnorm(N, 0, 1) fit <- mle(minusLogL1, start = list(mu=0, logsigma2=0)) confint(fit) fit2 <- mle(minusLogL1, start = list(mu=0), fixed = list(logsigma2=0)) confint(fit2) # failed fit3 <- mle(minusLogL2, start = list(mu=0)) confint(fit3) # same