diff --git a/Utilities/Matlab/scripts/dvcread.m b/Utilities/Matlab/scripts/dvcread.m
index b92f37eb65e..b5bf03b6355 100644
--- a/Utilities/Matlab/scripts/dvcread.m
+++ b/Utilities/Matlab/scripts/dvcread.m
@@ -38,7 +38,9 @@
     if textline == -1
         ierror = 1;
     else
-        [X ierror]=str2num(textline);
+        % Remove hyphens before calling str2num
+        cleanline = strrep(textline, '-', '');
+        [X ierror]=str2num(cleanline);
     end
 end
 fclose(fid);