diff --git a/mat73/version.py b/mat73/version.py
index d1de237..dba4560 100644
--- a/mat73/version.py
+++ b/mat73/version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = '0.62'
+__version__ = '0.63'
diff --git a/tests/test_mat73.py b/tests/test_mat73.py
index f7e5c05..3ee9d2b 100644
--- a/tests/test_mat73.py
+++ b/tests/test_mat73.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class Testing(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         """make links to test files and make sure they are present"""
-        for i in range(1, 12):
+        for i in range(1, 13):
             file = 'testfile{}.mat'.format(i)
             if not os.path.exists(file):
                 file = os.path.join('./tests', file)
@@ -414,6 +414,18 @@ def test_file11_specificvars_cells(self):
         data = mat73.loadmat(self.testfile11, only_include=['bar'])
         assert len(data)==0
 
+    def test_file12_sparse_matrix_fix(self):
+        """some sparse matrices could not be loaded. check if it now works"""
+        # check regular loading works
+        import scipy
+        data = mat73.loadmat(self.testfile12)
+        struct_sparse = data['rec_img']['fwd_model']['stimulation']
+        sparse_type = scipy.sparse.csc_matrix
+        assert isinstance(struct_sparse[0]['meas_pattern'], sparse_type)
+        assert isinstance(struct_sparse[0]['stim_pattern'], sparse_type)
+        assert isinstance(struct_sparse[0]['stimulation'], str)
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
 
-    unittest.main()
\ No newline at end of file
+    unittest.main()
diff --git a/tests/testfile12.mat b/tests/testfile12.mat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57f9dba
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/testfile12.mat differ