diff --git a/inst/extdata/statacar_strl.dta b/inst/extdata/statacar_strl.dta
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b5434eec
Binary files /dev/null and b/inst/extdata/statacar_strl.dta differ
diff --git a/src/read_dta.cpp b/src/read_dta.cpp
index ae7a4287..3818c822 100644
--- a/src/read_dta.cpp
+++ b/src/read_dta.cpp
@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ List read_dta(FILE * file, const bool missing) {
         // string of any length
       case 32768:
       {// strL 2*4bit or 2 + 6 bit
-        char val_strl[22];
+        //char val_strl[22];
 
         // FixMe: Strl in 118
         switch (release)
@@ -498,7 +498,10 @@ List read_dta(FILE * file, const bool missing) {
             v = readbin(v, file, swapit);
             o = readbin(o, file, swapit);
 
-            sprintf(val_strl, "%010d%010d", v, o);
+            stringstream ss; 
+            ss << setfill('0') << setw(10) << v << setfill('0') << setw(10) << o;
+            string val_strl = ss.str();
+            //sprintf(val_strl, "%010d%010d", v, o);
             as<CharacterVector>(df[i])[j] = val_strl;
             break;
           }
@@ -513,7 +516,10 @@ List read_dta(FILE * file, const bool missing) {
             v = (uint16_t)z;
             o = (z >> 16);
 
-            sprintf(val_strl, "%010d%010ld", v, o);
+            stringstream ss; 
+            ss << setfill('0') << setw(10) << v << setfill('0') << setw(10) << o;
+            string val_strl = ss.str();
+            //sprintf(val_strl, "%010d%010llu", v, o);
 
             as<CharacterVector>(df[i])[j] = val_strl;
             break;
@@ -555,7 +561,7 @@ List read_dta(FILE * file, const bool missing) {
   while(gso.compare(tags)==0)
   {
     CharacterVector strls(2);
-    char ref[22];
+    string ref;
 
     // FixMe: Strl in 118
     switch (release)
@@ -567,7 +573,10 @@ List read_dta(FILE * file, const bool missing) {
       v = readbin(v, file, swapit);
       o = readbin(o, file, swapit);
 
-      sprintf(ref, "%010d%010d", v, o);
+      stringstream ss; 
+      ss << setfill('0') << setw(10) << v << setfill('0') << setw(10) << o;
+      ref.assign(ss.str());
+      //sprintf(ref, "%010d%010d", v, o);
       break;
     }
     case 118:
@@ -579,8 +588,11 @@ List read_dta(FILE * file, const bool missing) {
       o = readbin(o, file, swapit);
       // z = readbin(z, file, swapit);
 
-      sprintf(ref, "%010d%010ld", v, o);
-      // sprintf(ref, "%010ld", z);
+      stringstream ss; 
+      ss << setfill('0') << setw(10) << v << setfill('0') << setw(10) << o;
+      ref.assign(ss.str());
+      //sprintf(ref, "%010d%010ld", v, o);
+      
       break;
     }
     }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_read.R b/tests/testthat/test_read.R
index 947cca79..7da8afe5 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_read.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_read.R
@@ -153,4 +153,14 @@ test_that("encoding UTF-8 (Stata 14)", {
   expect_true(datacompare(dd, ddutf_aE))
 })
 
-# rm(list = files)
+test_that("Reading of strls", {
+  strl <- system.file("extdata", "statacar_strl.dta", package="readstata13")
+  
+  ddstrlf <- read.dta13(strl, replace.strl = F)
+  ddstrlfref <- c("00000000130000000001",  "00000000130000000002",  "00000000130000000003",  "00000000130000000004",  "00000000130000000005",  "00000000130000000006",  "00000000130000000007",  "00000000130000000008",  "00000000130000000009",  "00000000130000000010",  "00000000130000000011",  "00000000130000000012",  "00000000130000000013",  "00000000130000000014",  "00000000130000000015",  "00000000130000000016",  "00000000130000000017",  "00000000130000000018",  "00000000130000000019",  "00000000130000000020",  "00000000130000000021",  "00000000130000000022",  "00000000130000000023",  "00000000130000000024",  "00000000130000000025",  "00000000130000000026",  "00000000130000000027",  "00000000130000000028",  "00000000130000000029",  "00000000130000000030",  "00000000130000000031",  "00000000130000000032",  "00000000130000000033",  "00000000130000000034",  "00000000130000000035",  "00000000130000000036",  "00000000130000000037",  "00000000130000000038",  "00000000130000000039",  "00000000130000000040",  "00000000130000000041",  "00000000130000000042",  "00000000130000000043",  "00000000130000000044",  "00000000130000000045",  "00000000130000000046",  "00000000130000000047",  "00000000130000000048",  "00000000130000000049",  "00000000130000000050",  "00000000130000000051",  "00000000130000000052",  "00000000130000000053",  "00000000130000000054",  "00000000130000000055",  "00000000130000000056",  "00000000130000000057",  "00000000130000000058",  "00000000130000000059",  "00000000130000000060",  "00000000130000000061",  "00000000130000000062",  "00000000130000000063",  "00000000130000000064",  "00000000130000000065",  "00000000130000000066",  "00000000130000000067",  "00000000130000000068",  "00000000130000000069",  "00000000130000000070",  "00000000130000000071",  "00000000130000000072",  "00000000130000000073",  "00000000130000000074")
+  expect_equal(ddstrlf$mymake, ddstrlfref)
+  
+  ddstrl <- read.dta13(strl, replace.strl = T)
+  expect_equal(ddstrl$mymake, ddstrl$make)
+})
+