diff --git a/matlab/@dseries/subsref.m b/matlab/@dseries/subsref.m
index f1cd3be2526e923caf14d95cefc5154a03342670..d54445811f0bed31aa9f01332a6a21d88341722a 100644
--- a/matlab/@dseries/subsref.m
+++ b/matlab/@dseries/subsref.m
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ switch S(1).type
         end
     end
   case '()'
-    if ischar(S(1).subs{1})
+    if ischar(S(1).subs{1}) && ~isdate(S(1).subs{1})
         % If ts is an empty dseries object, populate this object by reading data in a file.
         if isempty(A)
             B = dseries(S(1).subs{1});