diff --git a/matlab/dynare_identification.m b/matlab/dynare_identification.m
index fb0ed930e..d1125ac76 100644
--- a/matlab/dynare_identification.m
+++ b/matlab/dynare_identification.m
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ if isempty(data_info),
     data_info.gend = periods;
     data_info.data = [];
     data_info.data_index = [];
-    data_info.number_of_observations = periods*length(options_.varobs);
+    data_info.number_of_observations = periods*size(options_.varobs,1);
     data_info.no_more_missing_observations = 0;
     data_info.missing_value = 0;
 end