diff --git a/matlab/@dseries/subsref.m b/matlab/@dseries/subsref.m
index 486840c563c893e8b35342fd0b81308ecd51c3dc..7da44e3f82a003feb559cb5a861710154e9c0a9f 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});