diff --git a/.github/workflows/matlab.yml b/.github/workflows/matlab.yml
index c0280498..5907ac91 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/matlab.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/matlab.yml
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ jobs:
           command: |
               mex('-setup', '-v', 'C');
               cd('wrappers/matlab/');
-              fnames = cell2mat(struct2table(dir('*.cpp')).name);
+              fnames = struct2table(dir('*.cpp')).name;
               for i = 1:length(fnames)
-                  fname = fnames(i)
+                  fname = cell2mat(fnames(i))
                   fprintf('Compiling %s...\n', fname)
                   mex('-v', fname, '-I./', '-L${{github.workspace}}/install', '-lmoordyn');
               end