diff --git a/src/finesse/input_file/FT_read_kat_constant.m b/src/finesse/input_file/FT_read_kat_constant.m
index 4afde5bb44a39507097301ef6b422e648aaa417f..420580805533b2cd208dcaccda74b8e2bb7f2bd3 100644
--- a/src/finesse/input_file/FT_read_kat_constant.m
+++ b/src/finesse/input_file/FT_read_kat_constant.m
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ function [value] = FT_read_kat_constant(block,constant_name)
   end
 
   % getting constant value
+  value = FT_kat_str2num(FT_get_element_from_line(block.txt_lines(lines),3));
   
-  value=cell2mat(FT_parse_line(block.txt_lines(lines),3));
+end