diff --git a/import/read_hdf5_as_table.m b/import/read_hdf5_as_table.m
index cd60605..12af873 100644
--- a/import/read_hdf5_as_table.m
+++ b/import/read_hdf5_as_table.m
@@ -77,7 +77,17 @@ for i = 1 : num_rows
         end
         if j > num_attr1
             Name = INFO.Groups(i).Attributes(j-num_attr1).Name;
-            tmp{i,j} = h5readatt(filename,INFO.Groups(i).Name, Name); 
+            Datatype = INFO.Groups(i).Attributes(j-num_attr1).Datatype.Class;
+
+            % Detect string attributes and convert them to characters.
+            % TODO: extend to other necessary data types.
+            if strcmp(Datatype,'H5T_STRING')
+                convert_func = @(x) convertStringsToChars(x);
+            else % no data type conversion is performed
+                convert_func = @(x) x;
+            end
+            
+            tmp{i,j} = convert_func(h5readatt(filename,INFO.Groups(i).Name, Name)); 
             if i < 2
                 
                 disp(Name)