Sticky piston won't deactivate when 2 blocks under redstone block

place a sticky piston on the ground so that it pushes horizontally.
place a restone block two blocks above the piston (this will not activate the piston) (there should only be a 1 block gap between piston and restone block)
place a redstone torch or use a lever to active the piston
now deactive the piston by removing torch or turn off lever
*note: piston will not retract.

I tried a piston 2 blocks away horizontally and this did not occur, I did not test 2 blocks below the piston.