diff --git a/biojava-integrationtest/src/test/java/org/biojava/nbio/structure/test/PDBFileParserTest.java b/biojava-integrationtest/src/test/java/org/biojava/nbio/structure/test/PDBFileParserTest.java
index 22e624d51e..7bc3c2846d 100644
--- a/biojava-integrationtest/src/test/java/org/biojava/nbio/structure/test/PDBFileParserTest.java
+++ b/biojava-integrationtest/src/test/java/org/biojava/nbio/structure/test/PDBFileParserTest.java
@@ -24,10 +24,6 @@
  */
 package org.biojava.nbio.structure.test;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
-
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
@@ -49,6 +45,8 @@
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
 /**
  * Test the {@link PDBFileParser}.
  *
@@ -654,4 +652,28 @@ public void testDates() throws IOException {
 		assertEquals(s.getPDBHeader().getRelDate().getYear() + 1900, 1992);
 
 	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testMatrxn() throws IOException {
+		String pdb =
+				"MTRIX1   1  1.000000  0.000000  0.000000        0.00000    1\n" +
+				"MTRIX2   1  0.000000  1.000000  0.000000        0.00000    1\n" +
+				"MTRIX3   1  0.000000  0.000000  1.000000        0.00000    1\n" +
+				"MTRIX1   2  0.302797 -0.436000 -0.847477      183.33000     \n" +
+				"MTRIX2   2  0.434555  0.854568 -0.284384      -74.97000     \n" +
+				"MTRIX3   2  0.848219 -0.282165  0.448227     -146.16000     \n" +
+				// no padding at end should also work
+				"MTRIX1   3  0.006722  0.856941  0.515371      176.52000\n" +
+				"MTRIX2   3  0.518827  0.437598 -0.734389      -69.86000\n" +
+				"MTRIX3   3 -0.854853  0.272325 -0.441662      242.75999\n";
+
+		BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new StringReader(pdb));
+		Structure s = parser.parsePDBFile(br);
+
+		assertNotNull(s.getCrystallographicInfo().getNcsOperators());
+		assertEquals(2, s.getCrystallographicInfo().getNcsOperators().length);
+
+		// making sure we read up to last character
+		assertEquals(242.75999, s.getCrystallographicInfo().getNcsOperators()[1].m23, 0.0000001);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/biojava-structure/src/main/java/org/biojava/nbio/structure/io/PDBFileParser.java b/biojava-structure/src/main/java/org/biojava/nbio/structure/io/PDBFileParser.java
index eeac1912ab..41014e1ec4 100644
--- a/biojava-structure/src/main/java/org/biojava/nbio/structure/io/PDBFileParser.java
+++ b/biojava-structure/src/main/java/org/biojava/nbio/structure/io/PDBFileParser.java
@@ -1553,8 +1553,8 @@ private void pdb_CRYST1_Handler(String line) {
 	private void pdb_MTRIXn_Handler(String line) {
 
 		// don't process incomplete records
-		if (line.length() < 60) {
-			logger.info("MTRIXn record has fewer than 60 columns: will ignore it");
+		if (line.length() < 55) {
+			logger.info("MTRIXn record has fewer than 55 columns: will ignore it");
 			return;
 		}
 
@@ -1567,7 +1567,7 @@ private void pdb_MTRIXn_Handler(String line) {
 			double col3Value = Double.parseDouble(line.substring(30,40));
 			double translValue = Double.parseDouble(line.substring(45,55));
 			int iGiven = 0;
-			if (!line.substring(59,60).trim().equals("")) {
+			if (line.length()>=60 && !line.substring(59,60).trim().isEmpty()) {
 				iGiven = Integer.parseInt(line.substring(59,60));
 			}