diff --git a/oletools/oleobj.py b/oletools/oleobj.py
index be5318b..47a0bfb 100644
--- a/oletools/oleobj.py
+++ b/oletools/oleobj.py
@@ -83,8 +83,9 @@ from oletools.ooxml import ZipSubFile
 # 2017-05-03       PL: - fixed absolute imports (issue #141)
 # 2018-01-18 v0.52 CH: - added support for zipped-xml-based types (docx, pptx,
 #                        xlsx), and ppt
+# 2018-03-27       PL: - fixed issue #274 in read_length_prefixed_string
 
-__version__ = '0.52'
+__version__ = '0.52.4'
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # TODO:
@@ -260,7 +261,7 @@ def read_length_prefixed_string(data, index):
         null_char = data.read(1)
     else:
         ansi_string = data[index:index+length-1]
-        null_char = data[index+length]
+        null_char = data[index+length-1]
         index += length
     # TODO: only in strict mode:
     # check the presence of the null char:
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index cdcd086..ba10d54 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ import os, fnmatch
 #--- METADATA -----------------------------------------------------------------
 
 name         = "oletools"
-version      = '0.52.3'
+version      = '0.52.4'
 desc         = "Python tools to analyze security characteristics of MS Office and OLE files (also called Structured Storage, Compound File Binary Format or Compound Document File Format), for Malware Analysis and Incident Response #DFIR"
 long_desc    = open('oletools/README.rst').read()
 author       = "Philippe Lagadec"