diff --git a/matlab/h5readatt_octave.cc b/matlab/h5readatt_octave.cc
index 81c8863..cf11079 100644
--- a/matlab/h5readatt_octave.cc
+++ b/matlab/h5readatt_octave.cc
@@ -27,10 +27,10 @@ DEFUN_DLD (h5readatt_octave, args, nargout, "h5readatt_octave(<File_Name>,<DataS
 	  return retval;
 	}
 
-	hid_t ds = H5Dopen(file, args(1).string_value().c_str());
+	hid_t ds = H5Oopen(file, args(1).string_value().c_str(), H5P_DEFAULT);
 	if (ds==-1)
 	{
-	  error("h5readatt_octave: opening the given DataSet failed");
+	  error("h5readatt_octave: opening the given Object failed");
 	  return retval;
 	}
 
@@ -41,8 +41,22 @@ DEFUN_DLD (h5readatt_octave, args, nargout, "h5readatt_octave(<File_Name>,<DataS
 	  return retval;
 	}
 
-	float value;
-	if (H5Aread(attr, H5T_NATIVE_FLOAT, &value)<0)
+	hid_t type = H5Aget_type(attr);
+	if (type<0)
+	{
+	  error("h5readatt_octave: dataset type error");
+	  return retval;
+	}
+
+	if (H5Tget_class(type)!=H5T_FLOAT)
+	{
+	  error("h5readatt_octave: attribute type not supported");
+	  return retval;
+	}
+
+	size_t numVal = H5Aget_storage_size(attr)/sizeof(float);
+	float value[numVal];
+	if (H5Aread(attr, H5T_NATIVE_FLOAT, value)<0)
 	{
 	  error("h5readatt_octave: reading the given Attribute failed");
 	  return retval;
@@ -51,7 +65,10 @@ DEFUN_DLD (h5readatt_octave, args, nargout, "h5readatt_octave(<File_Name>,<DataS
 	H5Aclose(attr);
 	H5Dclose(ds);
 	H5Fclose(file);
-	retval = octave_value(value);
+	Matrix mat(numVal,1);
+	for (size_t n=0;n<numVal;++n)
+		mat(n)=value[n];
+	retval = octave_value(mat);
 	return retval;
 }